Dr. Daniel Stahl, a German-Jewish Patriot

Stahl was born in Gilserberg, Hesse-Kassel, July 12, 1806, to Moses Stahl and Breune Kaiserblueth, a Jewish couple. He grew up in an impoverished agricultural area, which offered a limited future. When funds were available, he took courses in medicine. He had not completed his medical studies when he immigrated to America in 1833. His first year in the United States was spent in Philadelphia where he resumed his goal to be a physician. 

By 1835, Stahl lived in Vincennes, Indiana, opened a medical practice, and married a woman of French descent, Therese DeHoule. He moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he attained a medical degree from Western Reserve University.

In 1838, Dr. Stahl arrived in Quincy, and during the next two decades, his stature as a physician grew. When Illinois College in Jacksonville opened the state’s first medical school in 1843, Dr. Stahl was part of the faculty.  

Dr. Stahl’s pursuit of knowledge led him to travel many miles on horseback for first-hand observation. As a consequence, he made “some recognized contributions to the medical literature of the day . . .” He wrote: “’In medicine we want no idle words nor talk for talking sake; we want facts, true observations, and laws and principles deducted from them.’” It was his contention that the “course and treatment of western diseases were best taught by western physicians, schools, and hospitals.”

Epidemics ravaged nineteenth century communities and Quincy suffered several. Sixteen years after Asiatic Cholera claimed 43 lives in Quincy—it struck again in summer of 1849. It is a disease spread by poor sanitation e.g. human feces contaminating water and food. 

By late August, the death toll stood at 236. In July alone, 142 people died. July 29th saw 15 deaths. The disease knew no distinction, taking victims from all walks of life. Enoch Conyers, the city’s mayor, was cut down. John Tillson later wrote: “Dr. Stahl, the earliest German physician, who had more to do with, the [study of the] disease than any other,” lost his wife and a daughter. 

The cholera outbreak in 1849 and the fight waged by local physicians resulted in the organization of the Adams County Medical Society in March 1850. Local doctors saw the need to co-operate and consult in both normal times and in emergencies. Besides being an officer in the inaugural Adams Country Medical Society, Dr. Stahl was a delegate to the convention that organized the Illinois State Medical Society that same year.  

Except for some months in 1857, which Dr. Stahl spent visiting medical clinics in France and Germany, he practiced medicine in Quincy. 

Politically, Dr. Stahl was a supporter of Stephen A. Douglas. In March 1861, at a gathering over the secession crisis, the Herald reported: “Dr. Stahl said he was a Democrat, but came to the meeting as a Union man . . . .” A month later and at another rally, the Whig and Republican stated that the crowd called on Dr. Stahl to speak, and he told all gathered that “he had sworn 25 years ago to support the government of this country, and he should not desert it now in its hour of trial.”

At age 55, past the age for military duty, Dr. Stahl volunteered his services. In a letter to the Whig, one soldier wrote that the first man he met was Dr. Stahl, who had been “appointed Physician and Surgeon at large.” He added: “The Doctor seems at home, and the boys are well pleased that one so much interested in their welfare has been appointed. Certainly his skill and experience must be invaluable to the regiment.” Another man wrote: “Dr. Stahl seemed the most cheerful and happy man I saw at Cairo, and no man will look upon the sick with more kindness and sympathy than he.”

A few days later Dr. Stahl was mustered into the army as a surgeon with the 10th Illinois Volunteer Infantry where he served until resigning on August 31, 1862. In two weeks Dr. Stahl was back in the army, but with the 7th Illinois Cavalry, commanded by fellow Quincyan Edward Prince. On September 29, 1864, Dr. Stahl was mustered out of the 7th Illinois Cavalry since the Senate had confirmed his “nomination as Assistant Surgeon U. S. V. [Volunteers].” The Whig added that Dr. Stahl had “justly won the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been connected.” 

During the war, Congress saw the need to supplement the regular Army medical corps and created the position of Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon of Volunteers. Five hundred and forty-seven men were commissioned. Dr. Stahl was one of them. On January 23, 1865, Dr. Stahl was promoted to surgeon with the rank of major. When discharged in 1865, Dr. Stahl was breveted a lieutenant colonel.

During the final year of the war, Dr. Stahl served in the hospitals in Memphis, Tennessee. While there, his daughter, Antoinette Elizabeth, joined him. The hospital commander was Dr. B. J. D. Irwin, a regular Army officer. Antoinette and Dr. Irwin were married in Quincy on June 20, 1864. 

After the war Dr. Stahl returned to Quincy. But while on an extended visit to Germany, he died in Baden-Baden on October 26, 1874. Before leaving, he told his children: “’The period during which I served in the army of the United States being the proudest of my life, I wish to preserve as heirlooms in the family my commissions. . . .’” He also wished that on his death that a plain white marble slab marks his grave, bearing the inscription: “Daniel Stahl, M.D., Late Brevet Lieutenant Colonel and Surgeon, U. S. V.”

The Herald wrote: “Dr. Stahl was not only an American, but also heart and soul a Quincyite. He went into the army at the breaking out of the war—although then far advanced in age—to attest his devotion to republican institutions. . . .” 

SOURCES

Adams, George W., Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army in the Civil War,

 New York: Henry Schuman, 1952.

“Another Lie Disposed Of.” Daily Quincy Herald, October 23, 1858, 2.

Asbury, Henry, Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, Quincy, Illinois: Wilcox & Sons, Printers, 1882. 

“The Death of Doctor Stahl.” Daily Quincy Herald, November 15, 1874, 2.

“Dr. Stahl Disposed Of.” Quincy Daily Whig and Republican, October 25, 1858, 3.

“From Cairo.” Quincy Whig and Republican, May 11, 1861, 3.

“From Cairo-The Camp-The Officers-The Men.” Quincy Whig and Republican, June 8, 1861,3.

Genosky, Rev. Landry, ed., People’s History of Quincy and Adams, County, Illinois, Quincy, 

Illinois: Jost & Kiefer Printing Co., 1973.

“German Union Meeting.” Quincy Daily Herald, April 24, 1861, 1.

Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County, Quincy, Illinois, MS File 920-Stahl Family.

Holtschlag, Lester and Kimbrough, Lenore, trans., Bornmann’s Sketches of Germans in Quincy 

and Adams County, Quincy, Illinois: The Great River Genealogical Society, 1999.

Illinois State Medical Society, History of Medical Practice in Illinois, vol. 1, Chicago: Book Press, 

1927.

LaPointe, Patricia M., “Military Hospitals in Memphis, 1861-1865,” Tennessee Historical 

Quarterly, vol. 42 (4), 1983.

“The Meeting Thursday Night.” Quincy Daily Herald, March 23, 1861, 3.

Tillson, Gen. John, History of the City of Quincy, Illinois, Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 

1900.

“What the German Democrats Say.” Quincy Whig and Republican, May 4, 1861, 1.

Wilcox, David F., Quincy and Adams County, Illinois History and Representative Men, vol. 1, 

London: Forgotten Books, 1919