Dr. Abbey Fox Rooney, medicine woman

In 1874, Dr. Abbey Fox of
rural Adams County became the first woman physician to be licensed in Illinois.
By the end of the 19th century, she was one of 7,000 women physicians throughout
the country. Today, about 31 percent of physicians are women.

Fox was born in 1844 in Ellington Township. Among the early
settlers of Adams County, the Fox family lived on a farm, known as the “Dick”
farm, on North 24th Street. Oliver Fox built the house that the family called
home.

Perhaps the pioneering spirit of her family inspired Fox to
carve a path for herself. After graduating from local schools, she spent a year
at Lombard College in Galesburg. She then spent three years at the Clinton
Liberal Institute of New York. She graduated from Clinton in 1864. Fox accepted
a position as professor at Dean Academy in Franklin, Mass., where she taught
for three years.

Before and during Fox’s stay on the East Coast, the field of
medicine began to open up to women, sometimes because they forced it open. In
1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive a medical degree in
the United States. The next year, the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania
opened, becoming the first medical college for women. Seven years later, in
1857, Elizabeth Blackwell, her sister, Emily, and Maria Zakrzewska opened the
New York Infirmary for Women and Children. The infirmary was the first hospital
run by women and the first to offer clinical training for women. In 1870, the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor became the first state medical school to
admit women.

Surrounded by these changes, Fox pursued a medical degree. In
1873, she graduated from the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary,
the same one started by Blackwell. Upon graduation, Fox returned to Quincy and
promptly opened an office and practice of her own. By all accounts, she gained
many patients and a reputation for being a principal practitioner.

One year later, she would gain the honor of being the first
woman physician to be licensed in Illinois. In 1875, both Ellen Ingersoll of
Canton and Sarah Hackett Stevenson of Chicago would follow in Fox’s footsteps.
Stevenson would go on to become the first female member of the American Medical
Association.

Also in 1875, Fox married Dr. Michael Rooney. Rooney had
moved to Quincy in 1871 to become the attending physician of St. Mary Hospital.
He would hold that position for 25 years. He was also the attending physician
to all the Catholic institutions of Quincy. Dr. Fox Rooney became the first
female physician to practice at St. Mary Hospital. She specialized in obstetrics
and the diseases of women and children.

Aside from their positions at the hospital, the Drs. Rooney
were members of the Adams County Medical Society. In 1895 the Society elected
Dr. Abby Rooney as their president. No other woman had held the offi ce before
— just another bullet point to add to Dr. Abby Rooney’s list of firsts. According
to the Medical Standard, Vol. 17 (which offers such gems as “Bone doctors have
been finding Illinois an unprofitable field”) Dr. Michael Rooney was voted in
as a censor the same year his wife became president.

Both Rooneys were active in the state medical society as
well. In fact, Dr. Abby Rooney gave a speech at the 75th anniversary of
the state society in 1925, which was held in Quincy, after being made an
honorary member the previous year. The event was the last time she would be in
Quincy.

Dr. Michael Rooney died in 1897 at home from a bowel
obstruction. The doctor had diagnosed himself and concluded that surgery would
be unnecessary. He was survived by his wife and their two sons, Henry and Paul.

It was around this time that another female physician entered
the stage of Quincy medicine. Susan Jarrett, a Quincy native, graduated
from University of Michigan Medical School in 1900. Her area of study had been
medicine and surgery. Rooney traveled with Jarrett’s mother to attend the
graduation. Jarrett’s graduation was probably when Rooney presented her a
set of surgical instruments that now are in the museum of the Historical
Society of Quincy and Adams County. Rooney’s son, Henry, also attended the
medical school at Ann Arbor. The Jarretts returned to Quincy, and Susan started
her practice.

The two female physicians not only shared a profession, but
also a dedication to helping out their fellow residents. In 1901, the
committees of the Quincy Educational Association needed teachers for their
summer vacation school. These teachers were going to donate their time, because
a lack of funding meant that only the supervising teacher would get paid.
Jarrett offered talks on hygiene and physiology. Rooney gave talks on “How to
Keep Well.”

Two summers later, Jarrett married Loren Seymour of the
Seymour family from Payson. For such a popular couple, they had a small
ceremony that took place among family at the Jarretts’ house on Grove Street.
By 1917, Dr. Susan Jarrett-Seymour and her husband lived in Pasadena, Calif.

In 1904, Rooney had retired from her medical practice and
moved to California. In Los Angeles, she joined her son, Henry, who had become
a successful gynecologist and obstetrician. True to form as a strong-willed
individual, she lived to be 90, maintaining her own apartment until struck with
a fatal disease.

Rooney not only worked hard at her medical practice, but she
also worked hard for her community. She held close ties to the Unitarian Church
and the charitable functions of that institution, giving freely of her time and
resources. Rooney also became an honorary member of Friends in Council, the
women’s literary circle that has existed in Quincy since 1866. She possessed
the pioneering spirit that brought her family to Quincy so many years ago.

Bridget Quinlivan is a graduate of Quincy University and Western
Illinois University. She is a volunteer at the Historical Society and an
English/writing specialist for Student Support Services at John Wood Community
College.

Sources

“Early Illinois Women & Other Unsung Heroes,” at

Medical Standard. Vol. 17. Chicago: G.P. Engelhard & Co., 1895.

Quincy Daily Journal 1900, 1901, 1903, 1917.

Quincy Herald-Whig 1917.