Dr. Charles Clinton and his patient, Joseph Campbell

Dr. Clinton and his Daybook were described in a previous post.

He lived very close to many of the Hanover Campbells and it might be suspected that he attended to their medical needs over the 20 years in which he kept the journal.  However, it appears that Dr. Clinton catered to the wealthy.  Most of his patients were the more prosperous in the area.

Another explanation for the lack entries for yeomen and tenant farmers, is that the book could have been primarily a financial record.  In such a case he might not make entries where his likelihood of getting paid was small.

Yet a third explanation is that the sick who could not afford a doctor, did not bother to call on a doctor.

In his Index which contains family names alphabetically, there are no names of close neighbors of the Campbells.  No Perrys, no Haines, no Tices, no McDowells, and no Woods.  There is one Campbell in the index, a James Campbell.

As discouraging as that is, we are lucky that the index is not an accurate summary of the patients of Dr Clinton. He apparently grew tired of maintaining the index.  By 1778 he was making entries in a chronological fashion.  Treatment of a particular family was no longer grouped together on a single page.  His activities were recorded chronologically as he moved from house to house.

On August 6, 1778 he visited the home of Daniel Campbell and wrote the following in the daybook:

"Aug 6, 1778  Mr Daniel Campbell's Son Joseph vis. 3 miles
Rx Pulv. Sal Nitri Fij. Tart. Emet. gr. ij Camphor
gr. iv divid in Dos. No. viij cap. im. 3tia guogue Hosa
Implast. vesicat.  pro intern.
malleolis h.v. _"

Daniel Campbell was the older brother of Joel.  He is listed in the 1773 will of their father Samuel. It is believed that he is the second oldest son as he inherits the original Campbell property in Hanover that sits next to that of the Perry's and Wood's, while his older brother Samuel inherits the larger property that sits on Route 208.

This is the first record I have seen that indicates that Daniel was married and had offspring.  For example in the 1793 Deed he is listed as a single person.  He does not appear to be listed in the 1790 or 1800 census which would innumerate members of the household.

By 1779 he is no longer living at the property he acquired in the will, if he ever lived there at all.  His younger brothers, Levi and Nathan, appear to be farming that property.  Daniel's location according to the 1779 tax assessment appears to be close to the Crists, Milspaughs, Jeans(sp), and Gillespys who all operated mills.  My thinking is that he was working at the mills when the assessor came by, but that he was probably bedding with his older brother Samuel.  By the tax assessment, Daniel owned no real estate and had only £12 of personal property.  Perhaps that property consisted of tools he was using at the mills.

If this was his situation in 1778, Dr. Clinton would not have had much hope of getting paid, unless he thought Daniel's brother, Samuel would pay.

The first line in Clinton's Daybook states that he traveled 3 miles to see Joseph Campbell, the son of Daniel.  This is just about the exact distance from Dr. Clinton's home on Route 208 to the farm of Samuel Campbell Jr also on Route 208.  See below.

1798 Map of Montgomery showing location Dr. Clinton's home with respect to Samuel Campbell farm where it is suspected that Daniel Campbell was living with his son, Joseph.

The next few lines are medical shorthand that I am still trying to decipher.  This is what I have so far.

Rx - An abbreviation for a prescription of medicine which follows..
Pulv. Sal Nitri Fij. - Sal Nitri or salt petre or potassium nitrate powder. The Fij indicates a dose of 2F (2 fluid ounces?)  Was this ingested to use as a purgative?  Or used as a Salve which has cooling and detergent properties?  
Tart. Emet. gr. ij - 2 grains of Tartar Emetic; used to induce vomiting
Camphor gr. iv divid in Dos. No. viij cap. im. - 4 grains of Camphor divided into 8 doses take in the morning?  This was often used externally to releave pain and itching.
3tia guogue Hosa - I am really going out on a limb here and guessing this is "Spotted Rose Tea"...guoque rosa is Latin for "spotted rose."  Don't waste you time on this until I get an image of the actual entry as there are likely errors in my transcription.
Implast. vesicat.  pro intern. - Emplastrum Vesicatorium used for internal complaints?  Vesicant Plaster (or blistering plaster) -  plasters were made of waxes, resins, pitch, suet so they retained form but were soft enough they could be molded around body parts.  The Emplastrum Vesicatorium is the same as Emplast Cantharidis (see pocket formulary of 1856)  it was made from lard/wax/suet/resin and cantharides (powdered Spanish flies).  It is a severe irritant causing blistering.
malleolis h.v. - Malleolus refers to the bony prominence on either side of the ankle.  Not sure for what the h.v. is an abbreviation.  Maybe hemorrhagic vasculitis (inflammation of blood vessels).

The relatively long list of medicines and comments by Clinton attest to the severity of Joseph's condition, whatever it was.

Dr. Clinton visited Joseph Campbell four times over the next six days.

"[Saturday] Aug 8 1778 Mr Daniel Campbell's son vis. sepr."
....
"[Sunday] Aug 9 1778 Mr Daniel Campbell's son Ref Puls U.A."
[the U.A is a comment on his pulse.  "Ref" is probably "Res" and may refer to his respiration.]
....
"[Tuesday] Aug 11 1778 Mr Daniel Campbell's son vis. sepr."
....
"[Wednesday] Aug 12 1778 Mr Daniel Campbell's son vis. sepr."

Dr. Clinton seldom indicated the deaths of any patients. I have only found one instance so far in my reading of the Daybook.  It was the case of "Mr Colvin's child."  Clinton records that he made it "as far as Joseph Houston's on my way; [I] heard there [the child] was dead." 

Clinton makes no mention of the eventual status of Joseph, but the frequency of his visits indicates the severity of the ailment.  The abrupt ending of the visits could lead one to conclude that the patient died.  This would also seem to explain why we see no Joseph in future censuses or hear any more of Daniel's family.

Of course, who knows what else is out there that will shine more light on the life and times of our Campbell ancestors.  Please send me any corrections or alternate theories!