EAST OF ALLEN

This a story about doctors and patients.

The patients in our story are played by (in order of appearance) Margaret Kinney, William Allen and William F. Cogswell. “Doctors” are Emily Allen, Joseph Kurtz and Tom Foo Yuen (pictured above).

Each of our patients has an east Pasadena connection. By the 1880’s the Kinneys and Allens had established ranches east of present-day Allen Avenue. Of course, Cogswell is the famous portrait artist who owned the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel.

We’ll leave the medical details to others, but if it is the late 1800’s and you got sick or in an accident, what would do?

William Allen Sends for Dr. Kurtz

If you are sick and you’re William Allen, you send for a doctor.

Mr. Allen came here in 1879 from England. He quickly purchased ranch land east of present-day Allen Avenue and north of present-day New York Drive. He stayed at the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel while his family home was being built.

While at the hotel, William Allen got sick. As related in author Paul Rollins’ Letters from the Sphinx, Allen was weary from the constant work of building his home and, in February, 1880, Allen fell ill. He was bedridden with “severe internal pain.” Over the course of a week, Allen sent for a doctor three times. As Rollins reports, Dr. Joseph Kurtz visited Allen twice. Whatever the treatment, Allen recovered.

From newspaper ads, it seems Dr. Kurtz’s office was in Los Angeles. So, he must have travelled out the Villa by horseback or buggy. About this time, there were at least five physicians advertising in the Los Angeles Herald. Here’s a list:

Dr. Kurtz, like other doctors, had their office and residence in Los Angeles and publicized both. Apparently, if you couldn’t send for a doctor, you could go to his office or home.

Rollins’ book does not say whether Dr. Kurtz gave a diagnosis or offered any remedy. However, Mr. Allen got one of the more eminent doctors in town. Born in Germany, Kurtz served as a Union Army surgeon during the Civil War, then moved west where he helped found the Los Angeles County Medical Associan, taught at USC, and doubled as the County Coroner.

Abbot Kinney Sends for Emily Allen

Doctors were rarely nearby, so mothers were often “doctors” for their families and their neighbors. Even the well-healed relied on family or neighborly care. As Rollins relates in Letters from the Sphinx, Emily Allen (William’s wife) was known throughout San Gabriel Valley as a skilled caregiver.

From Rollins’ book – In 1893, Abbot Kinney sent for Emily to help his wife, Margaret, who had fallen ill. Emily responded right away leaving her Sphinx Ranch, heading across Eaton Wash and up the hill to the Kinneloa estate. She nursed Mrs. Kinney back to health giving her tablespoons of milk and brandy. I am not sure about the medicinal qualities of milk and brandy but apparently it worked.

Below is a photo of the Kinney home at Kinneloa where Emily provided care to her neighbor.

D.J. Waldie, in Border Medicine: Doctors, Disease and Health Seekers in L.A., writes that mothers were often the doctors of first resort. Whether due to distance or resources, few could not summon a doctor’s care. Waldie writes that most families treated sickness with traditional preparations, using remedies such as castor oil, ipecac, senna and calomel, a popular laxative containing mercury.

William F. Cogswell Visits Dr. Tom Foo Yuen

What if the home treatment doesn’t work and the American doctor doesn’t help or gives you something that makes you sicker. What then?

It seems Mr. Cogswell was in just that sort of situation with a persistent stomach ailment. Not sure exactly how their paths crossed, but Cogswell sought the help of a Chinese doctor, Tom Foo Yuen.

That’s Dr. Foo in the photo at the top of this post. And, there he is again in the photo below demonstrating the traditional Chinese practice of pulse diagnosis. The patient, incidentally, is not Mr. Cogswell.

Dr. Tom Foo Yuen was, by his own account, an Imperial Physician, and the first such high ranking Chinese physician to come to America. From a family of physicians, in 1895, he established his herbal and medical practice in Los Angeles.

The good doctor’s clientele appears largely non-Chinese. His home and office, pictured above, were at 9th and Olive, well south of Los Angeles’ Chinatown. After arriving in California, he quickly learned English and he advertised extensively in local newspapers.

In fact, he was a veritable marketing machine. Dr. Foo regularly ran half-page advertorials in the Los Angeles Times and Herald touting his medical and herbal practice. His articles are surprisingly educational and provide physiology lessons, herbal information and generally explain his “methods and practices.” In 1902, Foo compiled his teaching into a 300-page book, now freely available on-line. Both his articles and his book include numerous testimonials from satisfied patients. This is where we connect back to Mr. Cogswell.

By the mid-1890’s, the Cogswell family had moved on from the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel and lived, at least part time, in Los Angeles. William Cogswell’s Los Angeles residence was at 1138 S. Flower St. As it happens, Cogswell’s South Flower address was a mere four blocks from Dr. Foo’s home and office on 9th and Olive. I don’t know that proximity had anything to do with Cogswell seeking out Foo, but a short walk to the doctor’s office is certainly convenient. Seems likely the Cogswells visited Dr. Foo at his office, which is shown above.

However the connection was made, Wiliam Cogswell, and his family members too, sought out Dr. Foo’s help. What’s more, they provided glowing testimonials for Dr. Foo.

William F. was cured of dyspepsia and son and daughter-in-law, Sarah Cogswell testified to healing of deafness:

Jennie Cogswell Rhoades, the famous painter’s daughter and William Lauren’s mother, also signed on to a letter supporting Dr. Foo’s work. A copy of the general letter is included in Foo’s book. Along with her father, William Cogswell, Jennie’s name is attached to a general letter of support which starts with this paragraph:

“T. Foo Yuen, City:

Dear Sir: The results of our treatment by the Oriental system of medicine as practiced by you have been very satisfactory to us, and have proved to us that there is great benefit to be derived from the herbal remedies when their use is directed by the care and skill of which you are possessed….

For this reason we are willing to sign this general letter of recommendation as an encouragement to others to study this system, and, if out of health, to test it for themselves.”

WM. COGSWELL, 1138 South Flower street. MRS. J. C. RHOADES, Los Angeles.

There is More to this Story

Here, at East of Allen, we’ve had editorial meetings warning against this sort of thing. As our blog posts go, this one has grown way too long.

But, each of the three stories kick out interesting trails and that third story, with Cogswell and Yuen, that’s loaded with questions. Like what happened after Cogswell’s public letter urging others to try Chinese medicine? What happened to Dr. Foo? And what about law and regulation of medicine? I wonder if the eminent, Dr. Kurtz and his LACMA group had anything to say about alternative medical systems?

Alas, we are going to let these questions be. But, we will pick up with a second post featuring William F. Cogswell’s steadfast support for Dr. Foo and a very special gift the famous painter bestowed on his doctor.