URMC / Libraries / Edward G. Miner Library / Rare Books and Manuscripts / Archives and Manuscripts / Record Groups / Ontario County (NY) County Clerk Medical Licenses (1797-1838)

Ontario County (NY) County Clerk Medical Licenses (1797-1838)

Documents Filed with the Ontario County (N.Y.) Clerk's Office for Licensure to Practice medicine and Surgery, 1797-1838

Introduction

In 1797 New York State passed its first legislation regarding the practice of medicine or surgery, stipulating that no person be allowed to practice “without satisfactory proof to the Chancellor, a judge of the Supreme Court, a master in chancery, or a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, that he had practised for two years next preceding October 1st aforesaid, or had studied that time with a reputable physician or surgeon, and had filled a certificate to that effect with the County Clerk.”

Legislation on medical licensure passed in 1806 required that applicants complete four years of medical study with a preceptor or complete a course of lectures at a medical college. Revised statutes passed in 1827 further addressed these requirements, including licenses for out-of-state physicians.

The 1806 legislation authorized the incorporation of medical societies and empowered them to examine applicants and issue diplomas constituting a license to practice medicine or surgery. These certificates or diplomas were valid for licensure when filed with the county clerk. (The county medical societies retained this power until 1880.)

The thirty year period during which these three pieces of legislation were passed almost spans the period during which the certificates in this collection were filed with the Ontario County Clerk’s office. The bulk of the documents for the 228 physicians represented here were filed with the county clerk between 1797 and 1838. (A handful were filed between 1878 and 1880.)

Five types of documents were filed with the Ontario County Clerk’s office by physicians or surgeons seeking licensure:

Handwritten certificates from preceptors stating that the applicant had fulfilled the requirements of his preceptorship.
Handwritten copies of diplomas from medical colleges – both in-state and out-of-state.
Handwritten copies of licenses issued by other medical societies (state and county) – both in-state and out-of-state.
Handwritten certificates affirming that the candidate had been examined by the censors of the Ontario County Medical Society.
Printed certificates affirming that the candidate had been examined by the censors of the Ontario County Medical Society.

All documents filed with the County Clerk’s office and bear the signature of the county clerk and the date of filing. (The 1797 legislation set a fine of $100.00 and forfeiture of the right to practice medicine or surgery for those who forged a diploma or certificate.)

This collection of documents was presented to the Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of the Edward G. Miner Library by the Ontario County Clerk in the fall of 1981. The collection is arranged alphabetically by surname. The date in parentheses following each name is the year in which the document was filed with the Ontario County County Clerk’s office.

Bissell certificate

Harry H. Bissell certificate (1822)

Container List

BOX ONE

Afflick, Thomas B. (1821)
Allen Adolphus (1818)
Amsden, Joel (1818)
Angel, Edwin (1826)
Arms, Daniel (1818)
Ashley, Robert W. (1806)
Atchinson, Sylvestus (1802)
Atwood, Joseph (1802)
Babbit, John W. (1833)
Bacon, Calvin (1814)
Balcom, Isaac (1816)
Baldwin, Seymour (1838)
Ball, William (1831)
Banister, Caleb (1811)
Bannister, Caleb (1830)
Barber, David (1835)
Barber, Ira S. (1830)
Barnes, William (1817)
Barnham, Ebenezer, Jr. (1817)
Bateman, Fletcher C. (1832)
Beach, Azahel (1825)
Beacher, Hezekiah, Jr. (1821)
Beers, Isaac (1823)
Bemis, Benjamin (1816)
Bennett, Josiah (1819)
Bigelow, Augustus G. (1832)
Birch, George (1829)
Bissell, Harry H. (1822)
Blackleach, George (1816)
Bogart, Stephanus V. R. (1827)
Borrow, Samuel, Jr. (1825)
Bowen, Elisha (1819)
Bradle, Chauncey (1818)
Bristol, Albert G. (1832)
Brower, Cornelius T. (1834)
Bryant, Ira (1818)
Burrell, Dwight R. (1880)
Burt, Jonathan (1835)
Bush, Volumus Wynans (1826)
Button, Cyrus (1818)
Carr, Edson (1826)
Carr, Sylvester T. (1830)
Carter, James (1803)
Chadwick, Josephus (1822)
Chapin, Daniel (1798)
Chapman, Daniel (1822)
Chase, Durfey (1818)
Chatterton, Jacob (1824)
Cheney, Ephraim W. (1817)
Cheny, Enoch (1818)
Chidsey, Samuel B. (1821)
Chipman, Cyrus (1804)
Clark, Oliver P. (1838)
Cleveland, John L. (1819)
Coan, Claudius Collins (1817)
Colman, Anson (1817)
Cornwall, William (1821)
Covert, N. B. (1877)
Cowdry, Warren A. (1818)
Cowin, Jonathan (1818)
Crittenden, Lucius W. (1832)
Cruttenden, Hulbud (1806)
Currie, Johannes (1834)
Cutbush, Edward (1798)
Daten, David D. (1835)
Davis, James, Jr. (1830)
Day, Azel (1820)
Day, Elisha C. (1820)
Dean, Francis (1820)
De Laney, Dan (1833)
Doane, Artemus (1822)
Doolittle, Willard (1832)
Dorchester, Elisaph (1878)
Dorman, John (1800)
Doubleday, Elisha (1819)
Downer, Avery (1831)
Dungan, James B. (1835)
Dungan, Samuel (1799)
Dunham, Silas (1818)
Durfer, Daniel (1818)
Dyer, Jareb (1803)
Edington, William F. (1878)
Elwood, John B. (1817)
Ensworth, Jareb D. (1813)
Fairchild, David (1799)
Fargo, Calvin (1800)
Findley, Solomon B. (1818)
Flood, George Edward (1880)
Foster, Mason D. (1837)
Frank, Augustus (1816)
Frantz, Albert Jacob (1878)
Freeman, Isaac (1838)
Frisbie, Elias W. (1825)
Frisbie, William (1820)
Fuller, Otis (1820)

BOX TWO

Gage, Anthony (1817)
Gale, Josiah (1819)
Garlick, Thaddeus (1831)
Gerhard, Milton U. (1880)
Gilbert, Daniel (1821)
Gilbert, John (1828)
Gilbert, William A. (1821)
Gillet, Berkley (1816)
Gillet, Orimel (1828)
Gooding, William C., Jr. (1826)
Goodwin, Daniel (1798)
Gray, Joel (1827)
Griffin, Jonathan (1811)
Gross, Pilkin (1817)
Guernsey, Jonathan (1818)
Gurley, Royal (1833)
Hale, Daniel Alason (1836)
Hall, William H. (1832)
Hastings, Samuel (1826)
Hatmaker, John (1821)
Hayes, Plinius (1818)
Hemenger, Amara (1818)
Hewett, Judson (1829)
Hewitt, Walter, Jr. (1814)
Hickok, Luther (1833)
Hickox, Henry C. (1822)
Higgins, Otis (1816)
Hollister, Isaac T. (1837)
Holton, Janna (1818)
Hopkins, George S. (1832)
Hudson, Daniel (1828)
Hudson, Lemuel (1816)
Huntington, Andrew (1818)
Hurlburt, Jonathan (1817)
Hyde, Henry (1814)
Jewell, Morris T. (1817)
Jewett, Harvey (1833)
Jewett, Lester (1821)
Johnson, Stephen P. (1880)
Johnson, Timothy (1817)
Judd, Uri (1822)
Kellogg, Russel L. (1838)
Kelsey, Alexander (1814)
Kimber, William (1838)
King, Theodore F. (1827)
Kittridge, John (1803)
Lakey, James (1821)
Laman, Albert G. (1837)
Lamb, Caleb A. (1826)
Lane, Josiah (1817)
Lee, Matthew (1815)
Lindsley, Uriel S. (1806)
Little, Charles (1807)
McClallen, Samuel (1802)
McCraken, David (1802)
McIntyre, Alexander (1819)
Marsh, Madison (1837)
Marshall, Charles W. (1835)
Mather, Elisha (1820)
Matthews, M. M. (1838)
Maxon (Maxson), Edwin R. (1860)
Miller, David (1818)
Miller, James H. C. (1826)
Mitchell, Charles T. (1877)
Moore, Samuel (1818)
Naramor, Nathaniel (1800)
North, Ezekiel (1802)
Northrup, Booth (1834)
Oliver, Andrew F. (1818)
Paine, Martin (1824)
Parker, Samuel Barber (1838)
Peck, Enoch (1830)
Pettibone, Harvey (1818)
Platt, Alonzo (1829)
Post, Benjamin F. (1830)
Post, Erasmus D. (1833)
Pratt, Jonathan (1829)
Prescott, Joel (1798)
Prichard, George C. (1878)
Pulling, Ezekiel B. (1822)
Ray, John (1799)
Raymond, Nathan (1803)
Reynolds, Oliver (1819)
Richardson, William P. (1817)
Robinson, Daniel A. (1828)
Robinson, Gain (1815)
Rolph, John (1803)
Rose, Gavin L. (1822)
Rose, Henry (1825)
Royce, Phineas (1824)

BOX THREE

Sartwell, Henry P. (1816)
Sedgwick, Elijah (1826)
Simmons, Elnathan W. (1834)
Smith, Archilaus Green (1815)
Smith, Hamilton (1830)
Smith, Joseph H. (1828)
Smith, Northrop J. (1834)
Southworth, Samuel (1828)
Spalsbury, John (1835)
Spencer, Thomas (1835)
Sprague, Lester (1859)
Sprague, Philetus (1814)
Sprague, Rollin (1829)
Staats, John (1833)
Stebbins, J. H. (1878)
Stevens, Linus (1819)
Stevens, Samuel (1807)
Stewart, James (1813)
Stewart, James (1828)
Stillman, Bennett (1815)
Stillman, Ralph (1830)
Thompson, Albert (1835)
Thompson, Hiram (1834)
Townsend, William A. (1828)
Tucker, Seth (1805)
Tupper, Asa (1813)
Vincent, Thomas (1806)
Warner, Elisha (1821)
Webb, Nathan (1838)
Webster, Daniel T. (1834)
Wells, Richard (1806)
Wheeler, Gardner (1828)
Whippo, Charles J. (1819)
White, William (1821)
Wickes, David S. (1824)
Wilbur, Leonidas Franklin (1829)
Williams, Thomas (1818)
Williams, William Augustus (1797)
Willis, Azariah (1799)
Wolcott, Walter (1817)
Wood, Andrew (1819)
Wood, Jesse (1818)
Woodworth, Eratus B. (1817)