Series 2 CORRESPONDENCE, 1879-1893

Series

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: This collection of Thomas R. Neilson's papers touches on many areas of the professional career and personal life of this Philadelphia physician, surgeon, and teacher. The bulk of the collection, comprised of professional correspondence and surgical case records, comes from a narrow period of time, 1888 to 1892, years when Neilson was approaching middle age and was well advanced in medical career. His early education, family affairs, and financial situation are also documented.

The Neilson Papers are divided into seven series. Series 1 concerns the education of the young Thomas R. Neilson. An extensive collection of weekly reports on his academic standing and conduct (1865-1873) at the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia is preserved in this series. The reports indicate that each class was small, ranging from nine to fourteen pupils, and although Neilson's grades were good, he was usually ranked in the middle of his class. Series 1 also contains printed materials from Neilson's 1880 graduation from the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. The 1880 class was the first to take medical degree under the new three year plan.

A small amount of personal correspondence concerning domestic matters (1881-1893) from many members of the Neilson family is preserved in Series 2.1. This series also contains a folder of letters of condolence from friends and colleagues sent to Neilson on the occasion of the death of his sister, Sarah, in July, 1892. Physicians represented include H.C. Deaver, Richard H. Harte, Francis Rudderow, and William J. Taylor.

Series 2.3 and 2.4 contain small collections of correspondence relating to professional matters (1888-1893). There are several instances of Neilson's medical testimony being requested during legal proceedings. There are also letters from patients, such as S.S. Brown and Irvin J. Morgan, or about patients, such as the correspondence from Hubert B. Carpenter, C.K. Ingham, and Charles K. Mills which describes the activities and treatment of Willie Ingham in 1893. There are a number of letters from medical colleagues, including Walter Freeman, Robert P. Harris, and J.M. Keating, and a fine letter, dated 19 August 1891, from E.C. Wagner concerning his medical courses at the University of Berlin, antisepsis, prostitution, and American physicians in Berlin.

Series 2.5 is composed of six letters (1879-1880 and 1890), written by noted Philadelphia physicians Alfred Stille, John Ashhurst, Jr., D. Hayes Agnew, and Thomas Wistar, attesting to the medical skill and personal probity of Thomas R. Neilson. Several of these letters recommend Neilson for a position on the surgical staff of Episcopal Hospital.

Records of Neilson's medical practice and teaching career at several Philadelphia institutions are preserved in Series 3. Neilson taught in the Medical Department at the University of Pennsylvania, and Series 3.1 contains some notes, primarily concerning the anatomy and surgery of the hernial regions, for his lectures as well as his 1891 application for the post of Clinical Professor of GenitoUrinary Diseases. Neilson was not, however, appointed to this position until 1903. Neilson, in conjunction with J. William White, also embarked on teaching short courses of post graduate instruction in venereal and genito urinary diseases, probably circa 1891. Neilson's lectures were delivered at the Venereal Dispensary of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Series 3.2 contains a ten page typescript fragment and manuscript notes of one of Neilson's lectures concerning current theories on masturbation and impotence from this course.

The bulk of professional material in the Neilson Papers concerns records from his surgical practice at Episcopal Hospital. In addition to some correspondence, an 1876 printed manual listing descriptions and dosages of pharmaceuticals from the Hospital Dispensary, and a course outline for a nurses' lecture series on surgery, Series 3.4 contains a detailed list of surgical operations performed by Neilson from January through March, 1890, and twenty six files on individual surgical patients from 1890 and 1891. These files include detailed case histories, temperature charts, and descriptions of surgical procedures. Many of the cases deal with skull fractures, amputations, and cancers. Neilson is listed as Attending Physician and Lewis H. Adler as Resident Physician for most of these cases.

The collection shows little evidence of Thomas R. Neilson's activity in many medical organizations. Series 4.1 contains printed copies of Neilson's 1918 address as Acting President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He describes the achievements and proceedings of the College, changes in Fellowship, new acquisitions of incunabula by the Library, and summarizes the reports of the standing committees, Sections, and Council. Neilson was also a Fellow of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, and a few items of correspondence are preserved in Series 4.2. Transcripts of Neilson's remarks during two discussions of cases, one on fixation of the knee presented by H. Augustus Wilson, the other concerning compound skull fractures presented by DeForest Willard, are also part of this series.

Series 5 is comprised of Neilson's financial records from 1886 to 1892. His account books contain information about not only his personal expenses but also fees from his professional practice. A few miscellaneous items are contained in Series 6. The series includes a biographical memoir, presumably written by Neilson in 1933, concerning Charles Berkeley Taylor, a Philadelphia lawyer; calling cards; and copies of the printed charter and by laws of the Church of the Ascension in Philadelphia and correspondence concerning the church's organ. Neilson was an active member of the Vestry of the Church of the Ascension.

Series 7 of the Neilson Papers contains a fine collection of photographs, mostly of Thomas R. Neilson and his family. There is also a set of four photographs depicting Neilson performing surgery at Episcopal Hospital; photographs of the 40th, 50th, and 60th reunions of the University of Pennsylvania's Class of 1877; and photographs and copies of engravings of John B. Deaver.