Oldest Practicing Physician in the United States

According to the American Medical
Association, Dr. Edmund Brewer (E. B.) Montgomery was the oldest practicing
physician in the country when he died on December 8, 1954. His parents Robert
and Elizabeth were originally from New Jersey and Ohio but moved west. E. B.,
the oldest of their three sons was born in St. Louis in 1858. The family moved
to Quincy when E. B. was a small child.

Dr. Montgomery first attended the
College of Pharmacy in Philadelphia. He transferred to Jefferson Medical
College in the same city and graduated in 1878. While in college he attended a
session of the International Medical Congress held in Philadelphia in 1876 and heard
Joseph Lister of Edinburgh, and Dr. John T. Hodgen of St. Louis discuss the
importance of antiseptic or sterile surgery. At that time, cleanliness and
antiseptic surgery were not universally accepted by the medical profession. Dr.
Montgomery was a convert.

After graduation, Dr. Montgomery
returned to Quincy to open his practice.
He later attended post graduate courses at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
As a young doctor, he traveled to Europe and attended International Medical
Congresses in Lisbon, Portugal and in Geneva, Switzerland.

When Dr. Montgomery began his
practice, there were no telephones, no automobiles, no paved streets or street
lights. He was summoned to a patient by messenger and traveled through mud and
snow by horse and buggy. He often performed surgery on the patient’s kitchen
table, helped by the family, with only kerosene light. He credited hospitals,
nurses, and sanitation with saving countless lives.

He believed in the value of the
public improvements of sewers and water works. He championed mortuary registration,
the fencing of livestock in the city, and the important work of the Board of
Health. The April 28th, 1893, Quincy Daily Journal interviewed Dr.
Montgomery who said, “Sanitation is not a question of force but of education.
The people should be educated as to the best way of disposing of garbage, etc.”
Unfortunately the suggestion was to burn garbage, now frowned upon, but at that
time was preferable to throwing it in the street. In the same article he touted
the advantages of a clean city in preventing typhoid and cholera epidemics.

Dr. Montgomery’s personal life was less straight forward than
his medical career. He married Agnes Coxe at the Unitarian Church on October
12, 1881. The wedding announcement in the Quincy Daily Whig of October 13, 1881
said, “Dr. Montgomery is a young physician whose growing practice bespeaks his
skill and ability, and his personal popularity is general. The bride has been a
favorite in Quincy society for several years…” Their marriage produced five
children, two of whom died young. The couple separated briefly in 1912 and in
1916 Agnes Montgomery sued for divorce. In 1917, E. B. married Maud Edith
Burrus Webb. She was a teacher who first married a farmer named Dwight Webb in
1902. They were divorced in 1911. Dr. Montgomery was 25 years her senior.

Montgomery’s residence for most of
his life in Quincy was at 1461 Vermont Street. The home was partially destroyed
by fire in 1914, which led to an investigation of the fire call system due to
the delay of fireman getting to the burning house. There were no injuries as no
one was home. After his second marriage and wedding trip to St. Louis, he and
his second wife Edith lived in an apartment adjoining his office. They later
moved back to 1461 Vermont. Edith died in 1938.

Dr. Montgomery built the building
to house his office on the southeast corner of Eighth and Hampshire Streets in
1892. He continued his practice at that location until he died in 1954. According
to the Quincy Herald Whig, December 8, 1954, his favorite saying, which was
quoted often, was, “Don’t get into too much of a stew about things.”

At the time of the Adams County
Medical Society’s centennial in 1950, Dr. Montgomery had been in practice for
72 years. Early in his career, he assisted the Illinois State Board of Health
with their sanitary survey of the state. He also held various offices in the
Adams County Medical Society, and was the physician in charge of Blessing
Hospital for six year. Later he was the surgeon in charge of the Illinois
Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. While
practicing, he wrote several papers to state and local medical publications and
was one of the principle organizers of the Quincy Medical and Literary
Association in 1897. He attended John Wood before he died in 1880.

Dr. Montgomery was also involved in
civic organizations. He served on the board of the Quincy Public Library and
the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County. He was a Mason and a
life-long Unitarian. He was an early adopter of the automobile and was known to
drive people around Quincy pointing out historic properties and
what-used-to-be-where when confronting a vacant lot.

He earned many honors over his long
years as a practicing physician. In 1917, Prudential Insurance Company gave him
a diamond medal for 25 years of service to that company. He served as a medical
examiner. That same year he was appointed to head the Army Board in Quincy.
This board was responsible for selecting the men able enough to be drafted into
the Army. Congress had passed the
Selective Service Act earlier that year anticipating the entry of the United
States into World War I. His son Hosmer served in France during that war where
he was wounded. Hosmer wrote letters home to his father which were then
published in the Quincy papers.

Dr. Montgomery was also an early
member of the American College of Surgeons.
Applicants had to present case histories of 100 surgeries performed in
the previous 12 months. If accepted, they were elected by the membership to the
college. Later in his career he was also a fellow of the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr. Montgomery was in his office
until the week he died of a heart attack. He is buried in Woodland Cemetery
next to his second wife, Edith.

Sources

1880

; Census Place:

Quincy,
Adams, Illinois

; Roll:

174

; Page:

361A

; Enumeration District:

022.

“A Wedding.”

Quincy Daily
Whig

, October 13, 1881, 8.

. Find
A Grave.

Illinois State Marriage Records.
Online index. Illinois State Public Record Offices.

“Little Late Locals.”

Quincy Daily Herald

, October 29, 1902,
2.

“Medical Society 92 Years Old
Saturday: Dr. Montgomery Is Its Oldest Member. “

Quincy Herald Whig,

March
27, 1942.

“Montgomery Home Gutted by Ugly
Fire.”

Quincy Daily Whig

, March 24, 1914, 10.

“Obituary.”

Quincy

Daily Whig

,
September 13, 1898; page 4.

“On Duty at French fighting Front.”

Quincy Daily Herald

, August 22, 1918, 3.

“

Souvenir of the Class of
’78; Jefferson Medical College.

” Philadelphia, PA: The Leeds Press, 1898.

“The Views of Dr. Montgomery.”

Quincy
Daily Journal

, April 28, 1893, 7.