The annals and rolls of the different professions in the West probably give more self-made and successful men, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, than any other quarter of the globe. With very meager facilities for improvement, in comparison with other sections, and under almost every conceivable untoward circumstance, the young professional men of the West have nevertheless kept progress with the advance of science, many among them attained prominence and still many of the present younger practitioners give promise of eminence in the near future. This latter class are, as a rule, self-made men - men who started in very disadvantageous boyhood, poor, unknown, but ambitious and industrious. They have literally carved out an honorable distinction if not a fortune in their chosen line; but it has been done by arduous service, by patient plodding and by strict attention to business.

James Willis Braham was born in the city of Toronto, Canada West, November 23, I845. His father, Alfred Braham, was a prominent dry goods merchant in Toronto, to which city he came from London, England, in I842. The maiden name of the mother was Catherine Moss, a native of England, who died at Toronto in I X, I. After the death of his wife, Mr. Braham returned to England, where he has resided since 1868. James was thrown upon his own resources at an early age; from the age of eight for seven years he was under home guidance, and secured his education in the private schools and in Upper Canada College. At the age of sixteen, in September, I860, he began the study of dentistry under Dr. George L. Elliot, of Toronto, and remained with him about two years, when he went to Dr. J. W. Elliott, of the same place, and a brother of his former preceptor, to continue his studies for his chosen profession. Here he remained a little more than one year. In the spring of 1864 he went to New York City and entered the office of Samuel Hassel, D. D. S., & Son, where he remained two years. After the close of the rebellion he went to St. Louis and was an assistant in the surgeon-dentist's office of Dr. A. D. Sloan & Son for one year.

In I867 he was competent to practice for himself, and in the spring of that year began the practice in St. Francois county, Missouri. Early in the year 1868 he settled in St. Genevieve, Missouri, where he has built up a lucrative practice and has attained the eminence of leading dentist in his county. Those who know him best, and are professionally qualified to speak, are very sanguine of his future, and say more of him than the modest scope of a biographical sketch will permit. But his success has been achieved by himself, his own efforts have educated and subsisted him, until now he stands on the flood-tide wave of popularity. His is but one more sketch of Missouri's self-made men, and another incentive to ambitious young men struggling against the fortuitous disadvantages of impoverished boyhood. As such we gladly give the sketch a place in our pages.

November 25, 1868, Dr. James W. Braham married Miss Janie M. Tyler, second daughter of John Van Tyler, Esq., a prominent merchant and miller of Big River Mills, St. Francois county, Missouri. Mr. Tyler is one of the early settlers of the state, having come with his parents from Virginia to St. Francois county in 1820. The Doctor has two interesting children - John Van, a sprightly boy of nine years, and Katie, aged four. His wife blesses his home with her presence and is no little encouragement to her husband in his arduous professional duties.

Henry Seymour Chase was born March 6, 1820, at Bellows Falls, Vermont. His father was a physician of note, and of English descent. His mother was a Campbell, and of Scotch descent. They were persons of good education and high culture.

His boyhood was passed in his native state, among whose green hills he acquired a taste for the beautiful in poetry and art. He had a studious and romantic turn of mind as some attempts at versification show about his twentieth year. His school studies never amounted to much, but he was an inveterate reader, and at twenty years of age had become well versed in history, geography, and the English classics generally. Scientific works gradually became of great I interest to him, and at the age of twenty-two he had determined to study medicine. This his father opposed, telling his son that a physician's life was a "dog's life," and that he would not take him as a pupil. This did not deter young Chase from his purpose. He therefore took instruction under another physician and paid his tuition from his own earnings. At the end of six months the father took his son into his own office where he finished his studies, during which time he attended medical lectures in Boston and finally in Woodstock, Vermont, at which place he took his degree of M. D.

While studying in this beautiful village he became acquainted with Sarah Haskell, a highly cultivated, amiable and beautiful young lady whom he married in 1844.

Dr. Chase had formerly studied dentistry in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and on graduating at the Vermont Medical College commenced the practice of both medicine and dentistry at Woodstock. At this time there were only about five resident dentists in the whole state. The demands upon his time as a dentist soon induced him to give up the general practice of medicine. He had, when married, no intention of remaining in Woodstock more than a few months, yet his dental practice increased so rapidly that he was induced to prolong his stay to the extent of fourteen years

Dr. Chase had a passion for both agriculture and horticulture. He had no particular knowledge of the former, but the latter served to employ many hours snatched from professional cares. In the fall of 1857 he resolved to remove to the state of Iowa to engage in farming. He thought it would be a good place in which to raise his five sons. These with one daughter had been born in Woodstock. The daughter died when two years old. He settled beside a lovely grove on an undulating prairie in Iowa in 1857. Here he satisfied his passion for a farmer's life in five years of hard toil for himself, his wife and his sons. But he was so good an agriculturist that he was made president of the county agricultural society several times. At the end of five years he resumed the practice of his profession at Independence, Iowa, near which growing town his farm was located. Wishing to give his children the advantages of the State University, he removed, in I865, to Iowa City.

While in Iowa he was instrumental in forming the Iowa State Dental Society, and was elected its first president. While here his writings in the dental journals of the country attracted attention, and he was in consequence invited to remove to St. Louis, Missouri, and take a professorship in the Missouri Dental College. To this city he removed in 1867, and the following year entered upon the duties of his position. About this time the Missouri Dental Journal was established, of which he became one of the editors. With this journal he has been connected as sole or associate editor most of the time to the present ( November, 1877).

The Western College of Dental Surgeons was established in St. Louis in October, 1877, in which Dr. Chase holds the position of professor of Histology, Microscopy and Dental Physiology. In November of the same year the St. Louis Dental Quarterly was established with Dr. Chase as one of the two editors. He is or has been connected with several dental societies to which he has contributed many important and interesting papers. Among these are the American Dental Association, the Iowa State Dental Society, the Northern Ohio Dental Society, the Illinois State Dental Society, the Missouri State Dental Society, the Southern Dental Association, the New York Odontological Society, the Boston Academy of Dental Science, the Vermont Dental Society, and the St. Louis Dental Society. He is also a member of some other scientific societies. During his whole professional career he has written at times for magazines and newspapers on the subject of Dental Hygiene. A few years since he published a small work called "Familiar Lectures About the Teeth," which passed through two editions and was highly extolled by the press.

He has an inquiring mind, which has led him to spend much time in original experiments in physiology. When quite a young man (fifteen years old), he tried the experiment of living without drink. This was successful. He took no drink or fluid of any kind for three weeks in the month of July, 1835. His diet was vegetables, without salt, pepper or other condiments, and ripe fruit. No inconvenience at all was felt during the time, and he thinks it could have been prolonged to any length of time under the same diet.

He has a methodical mind. While a farmer he knew the exact cost of raising each crop. In his profession he has kept records of cases and made tables of statistics in order to show results with exactness. When he has doubted authorities he has made original investigations himself to determine the truth. His love of truth in all serious matters is proverbial; but his love of fun and jokes sometimes causes his friends to say that they don't know when he is telling the truth.

In his religious views Dr. Chase is hopeful and liberal. He believes in a continued conscious existence after death, and thinks that each individual is responsible for his own actions and must suffer the consequences of his own sins. Also that after death there is an opportunity for improvement in character, even for the most degraded and sinful.

He has a family of six sons and three daughters. Two daughters and one son have died. Harry Chase, the well known and talented marine painter is a son of the subject of this sketch.

Dr. Chase is still a resident of St. Louis, and in respectable practice. He enjoys a high degree of health, and although fifty-seven years of age looks as though he might live for twenty years to come.

Dr. Cord, Dentist, 1324 Washington Avenue. - A thorough course of scholastic as well as practical training has been enjoyed by the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this article.

Dr. Cord was born in Kentucky, attended lectures at two dental colleges and graduated at both. He practiced in Missouri and Indiana, finding his way first to St. Louis in the winter of 1879 and conducting a successful practice for six years in the city. He belongs to the K. of P. and the K.O.T.M. Dr. Cord is perfectly at home in all kinds of dental work, including crown and bridge work. He has the privilege - and only another firm has it - of using a recently invented local anesthetic odontunder, by the use of which teeth can be extracted and other operations performed without unconsciousness, sickness or pain.

Dr. Cord is a polite and courteous gentleman who has now secured a high and confidential standing in the community.

Additional Brief Biographical Sketch of Dr. William Cord
Donovan-Zay-Cord Website by Katie Humphreys (Outside Link at My Heritage.com)

Homer Judd was born in Otis, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, March 29, 1820, and was the son of Asa and Ada Judd. The Judd family emigrated from England and settled in Massachusetts a few years after the landing of the Pilgrims. A genealogical record of the family has been published embracing over one thousand eight hundred names, and reaching down to the year I845. Such a record, running through the Pilgrim stock and into the ancient families of Great Britain, cannot fail to present a long array of honor and integrity, of which any family of to-day might justly feel proud. But, while not ignoring his honored ancestry, Dr. Judd relies more upon his own honest endeavors to be a "man for a' that;" and he is right - better be the beginning of an illustrious line than the end of it. His present high professional and social standing evidences that he is not dishonoring the ancient name. His father, Asa Judd, was a respectable farmer, and represented his town several years in the Massachusetts General Assembly.

Homer attended the common schools of his I native state, afterward enjoying the higher advantages of Lee and Worthington academies - two of Massachusetts better class of educational institutions. He graduated in 1847 in the Berkshire Medical College, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He has always been a student, and, in addition to his Greek and Latin acquired during his academical course, he has possessed himself of a very good knowledge of French, Spanish, German and Italian languages, besides some proficiency in Hebrew and Sanscrit. Some slight assistance from private tutors was all the help he had; but with all the ardor of a devotee, and with the pleasure of a natural linguist, he has pursued his studies and investigations alone. Indeed, from early life to now, his tastes and inclinations have led him into the literary and scientific research.

Dr. Judd began the practice of medicine and dentistry in Ravenna, Ohio. But after two years, he went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he filled the first tooth ever professionally touched in that territory. He remained there one summer and then returned to Ohio. From there he removed to Warsaw, Illinois, where he practiced in his double profession about twelve years. Here he was a member of the school board for several years, and one year superintendent of the public schools. He joined the I O. O. F. in Ohio, in 1847, at Ravenna, passed through the chairs of his lodge in Warsaw, and was its representative to the grand lodge which met in Chicago in 1859. He then removed to St. Louis where (with the exception of the time spent in the army) he has constantly been engaged, confining himself, however, to dentistry. That his professional brethren have duly appreciated Dr. Judd, is -found in the fact that he has been president of the American Dental Association, of the Missouri State Association, of the St. Louis Dental Society, Dean of the Missouri Dental College seven years, and editor of the Missouri Dental Journal five years. He was acting assistant surgeon, United States army, on the hospital steamers running to Vicksburg.

After the battle of Shiloh, Dr. Judd volunteered and served in attending to the wounded of that place. He was one of the four surgeons having charge of five hundred wounded soldiers on board the hospital steamer, the usual assistants being difficult to procure, each doctor had to dress, nurse and attend in person to all the varied and exhausting wants to his one hundred and twenty-five patients. Of course, the physical and mental labor was very great. So severely did it tax Dr. Judd, that he was compelled to make a two months' trip to Minnesota to recuperate his health. He was afterwards appointed surgeon of the 40th Regiment Missouri Volunteers, and served with them at the battles of Franklin, Nashville and Spanish Fort. He remained in the service some months after the surrender of General Lee to the United States forces closed the war, being stationed at Montgomery, Alabama. He was mustered out of the service of the United States, in August, 1865, and with an honorable discharge returned to St. Louis, where he resumed the practice of dentistry, in which he has been ever since engaged.

Dr. Homer Judd is now a member of the American Medical Association, of the St. Louis Medical Society, of the St. Louis Academy of Science, of the American Dental Association, of the Missouri State Dental Society, of the St. Louis Dental Society and several other scientific associations, State and local. He is also an honorary member of the California, Illinois, Iowa, Sixth District, New York, and other state and local dental societies.

In his religious proclivities, Dr. Judd leans more to the Catholic charities of Christianity than to its creeds, recognizing poor man's faulty nature here, pitying his foibles, but confidently looking to the final and eternal happiness and holiness of all mankind. In politics, he was a Democrat until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, since that time he has been a Republican.

Homer Judd was married in Pittsfield, Illinois, in March, 1853, to Miss Emily F. Hodgen, of that place. They have had three children - one son who died at the age of six years, and two daughters, now aged respectively seven and thirteen years.

Professionally, Dr. Judd stands deservedly high in Missouri and through the United States, his name and efforts in the scientific departments being high in the estimation of his fellows. Socially no family stands higher in St. Louis, and no warmer hearted man walks among the sons of the earth.

William Newton Morrison was born in East Springfield, Jefferson county, Ohio, on the 25th of May, 1842. His father, John R. Morrison, is a man of considerable inventive genius, which appears to be inherited by most of his children. Mrs. John R. Morrison was a Miss Sarah Hammond, of a prominent family in Ohio. Her uncle, Charles Hammond, was a prominent lawyer and editor in Cincinnati during the time of Henry Clay, with whom he had several earnest debates. In the Galaxy, of a few years ago, we find an account of a case in which he and Clay were the opposing counsel, and great praise is given Hammond for so well sustaining his case against so powerful an opponent.

Our subject comes from a family of dentists, having had two brothers, one uncle and several cousins in the profession. He is one of thirteen children, eight of whom are living. His eldest brother, James B. Morrison, has an enviable notoriety as the inventor of various dental appliances - Being the originator of the Furring Engine and of the "Morrison Dental Chair.”

Our subject claims no classical education, further than he has secured by his own studious habits. His schooling was limited to the country facilities of his youthful day and State. At the early age of eighteen he commenced work in mechanical dentistry in St. Louis, with his brother. At the conclusion of the third year he attended the College of Dental Surgery in Cincinnati, where he graduated.

In or about 1862 he began the regular practice of dentistry in St. Louis. In his case, especial and hard work with application was required, and he set himself to work assiduously in his calling. By diligence and close study, he attained a prominence in his profession, before he had reached the age of thirty, seldom acquired in a life-time service. So successful was he that, in I872, he had acquired not only a name but sufficient funds to build and furnish him a home. It was built after his own plan and in accordance with his own studied style of architecture, combining office and residence in the same building. It was a complete dentistry and at the same time a complete residence, and was the first building of the kind in the United States. From his first success until now, Dr. Morrison has sustained the reputation so dearly bought, and now St. Louis claims him as one of her professional men. The Doctor has invented and improved many dental instruments and appliances now generally used in the profession.

The Doctor has been a Mason since 1865, but has never accepted office in the order. In his religious tendencies, we cannot call him a churchman, although he has been and is yet a regular attendant, with his family, upon Sabbath service.. And so, too, in his politics; while claiming to be a Republican, he has never allowed himself to be governed by party rules in his ballot.

He has been a close observer in all his travels, and probably in this way has gathered the major part of his vast practical information. Having traveled extensively in the West Indies and throughout the United States, he has had the happy faculty of seeing, looking at, remembering and utilizing everything that came under his observation worthy of note in his profession or in political economy. And, in the latter respect - while he has never sought office or political preferment - the education thus acquired has rendered his political opinions of consequence among his fellow-citizens.

In 1868, Dr. Morrison married Miss Cornelia Holme, of Hannibal, Missouri, of which union three children were born, the two older of whom are still living. For one who has acquired so great a reputation in his profession, among so many gray-headed compeers, curiosity will ask for something of his characteristics. As near as we can learn he is undemonstrative and peculiarly reticent about his personal affairs; he has a fine appreciation for the beautiful in art and nature, as his tastefully ornamented house plainly indicates. His moral character is blameless - even tobacco being almost entirely tabooed. He has an irresistible penchant for the comic. He is cheerful without excess of cordiality, friendly toward all, yet with no intimates; forming neither violent antipathies nor confidential friendships, he stands apparently alone, and yet leans towards the masses of his fellow beings, and gives the worthy ones of them a lodgment in his philanthropy. If we were called upon to give his marked characteristic, from what we can learn of him, two words would embrace it - indefatigable industry, and that carried on with the motto, “ whatever is worth doing at-all, is worth doing well," and the scriptural injuction, "what thy hands find to do, do it with all thy might.”

In his later years, Dr. Morrison has shown such a particular aptitude. for surgery that it is a question with-himself and-friends (only relieved by his success in dentistry) if he did not mistake his calling in leaving that and choosing his present profession.

For the encouragement of young men following in his footsteps, we wish to state that whatever prominence the Doctor has acquired, has been the result of his unaided efforts, of study, observation and toil. He is, indeed, a self-made man. His Alma Mater was his midnight studies; his diploma is his success.

Christopher W. Spalding, son of Lovewell and Susannah (Greene) Spalding, was born March 15, 1814 at Centreville, Town of Warwick, State of Rhode Island. He is a descendant of Edward Spalding, who emigrated from Scotland at an early day. His maternal great-grandfather, Colonel Christopher Greene, commanded a Rhode Island regiment in the Revolution, and in 1777 was in command of Fort Mercer, at Red Bank on the Delaware river, having a force of between three and our--hundred men. Here he was attacked by a force of four thousand Hessians under Colonel Donop. The Hessians were defeated, one thousand killed and three thousand taken prisoners. For this service a sword was voted to Colonel Greene by Congress, and a monument commemorative of the battle was erected near Fort Mercer in 1829.

Young Spalding received a good common school education, and at the age of fifteen left home to learn the manufacture of cotton cloth, and at twenty years of age engaged in manufacturing.

In 1840 he began his professional studies, and I received the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 185I, and that of Doctor of Medicine in 1869. In 1840 he moved from his native State to New York State. In 1847-8 Dr. Spalding spent a year at Savannah, Georgia, and in 1849 removed from Ithaca, New York, to St. Louis, where he has since resided. He took a leading part in the organization of the “Midwestern Dental Society” in 1851, and has since been actively engaged in every good work which would tend to elevate the profession of his choice.

In 1867 Dr. Spalding retired from the practice of dentistry to engage in fruit culture, chiefly in the cultivation of the grape, and in its conversion into wine. While interested in horticulture he was chosen president of the “State Horticultural Society of Missouri,” and president of the “Mississippi Valley Grape Growers' Association." He was horticultural editor of the Journal of Agriculture, and one of the editors and publishers of the Grape Culturist, both published in St Louis, and also contributed many valuable articles on fruit culture to the agricultural press.

In 1876 he resumed the practice of his profession. During his professional career he has been president of the Western Dental Society, the St. Louis Dental Society, the Mississippi Valley Dental Association, the American Dental Association, and the Homoeopathic Medical College of Missouri. The latter position he still holds, and also occupies the Chair of Physiology and Histology in the same institution. He occupies the Chair of Physiology and Pathology in the Western College of Dental Surgeons, and is Dean of the Faculty of the latter college.

Dr. Spalding was for a short time a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of the Sons of Temperance, but not having much taste for secret organizations he has allowed his membership in both bodies to expire. He was educated a Methodist, but when twenty three years old became acquainted with the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and read them with intense interest. Since that time he has been a full believer in the doctrines taught in Swedenborg's theological works. In early life he was a Whig, subsequently a member of the American party, and during the Rebellion and thereafter a moderate Democrat.

November 11, 1838, Dr Spalding married Cornelia Anna Herb, at Providence, Rhode Island She is a descendant, on the maternal side, of Roger Williams, and is a lady of rare culture and sterling worth.

In personal appearance Dr. Spalding is very commanding, being tall, and of good physical development and dignified deportment. In him, that manipulative ability so necessary to the successful dentist, is united in an exceptional degree, with high scholarship and general scientific and literary attainment. He has always been a devout student without acquiring the exclusive characteristics of a recluse. He is affable personally, and has the genial characteristics and literary remembrance of a good conversationalist, enjoying the peculiar esteem and confidence only accorded to a faithful and conscientious practitioner and trusted teacher.

Updated 18 Oct 2008
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