BIO: James Evelyn PILCHER, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 12-15. _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ JAMES EVELYN PILCHER, M.D., A.M., PH.D., L.H.D., editor, author, lecturer, military surgeon, now residing in Carlisle, Pa., has lived a life of usefulness to his fellow men, and has won for himself a high place in surgical and military circles. When William the Conqueror went from Normandy to England, he had in his company one Pylchir, who became the ancestor of the English Pilchers. He remained in England, and held some office at the court of William. The family was first planted in America in the latter part of the seventeenth century, the emigrant settling at Dumfries, Prince William Co., Va., a town eventually washed away by the inundations of the James river. After the close of the war of the Revolution, James Pilcher, the great-grandfather of James Evelyn Pilcher, became prominent in the public affairs of the new government, and was one. of the first active Abolitionists. Stephen Pilcher, son of James, was born in Prince William county, in 1772, and on attaining mature years he crossed the mountains and came to the North, finally settling in Athens, Ohio, where he became a leading citizen. For many years he held the office of justice of the peace. His occupation was that of a farmer, but he devoted a large portion of his time to public affairs, and was exceedingly interested in educational matters. With his own hands he helped lay the foundation of the Ohio State University. His wife was Eleanor J. Selby, a member of a distinguished family. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 13 Elijah Holmes Pilcher, A.M., M.D., S.T.D., LL.D., son of Stephen, was born in Athens, Ohio, in 1810. He attended the Ohio State University for a time, but left it at the end of his Sophomore year to prepare for the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For fifty years he was a well known divine of that faith in the United States. In 1830 he went to Michigan, and became active in the work of progress in that State, where he was one of the founders of Albion College. He was the founder of the Michigan Christian Advocate, published at Detroit, and at one time lie was regent of the University of Michigan. In Coldwater, Mich., he married, May 24, 1842, Phoebe Maria Fisk, daughter of James Fisk; first cousin of Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of Andrew Jackson; and later United States Senator and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; great-granddaughter of Lieut. James Woodbury, who served with Wolfe at the storming of Quebec; and granddaughter of Capt. Peleg Ransom, of Ulster county, N.Y., a soldier of the Revolution. To their marriage were born three children: Lewis Stephen, A.M., M.D., LL.D., of New York, editor of Annals of Surgery, and one of the most distinguished surgeons in the United States; Leander William, D. D., who at his death in 1893 was president of Pekin University, Pekin, China; and James Evelyn. The father died in New York city in 1887, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery. The mother passed away in Romeo, Mich., Aug. 26, 1866. James Evelyn Pilcher was born in Adrian, Mich., March 18, 1857. Like the other members of the family he was given exceptionally good educational facilities. In 1879 he was graduated from the University of Michigan with the degree of A.B.; in 1880 he received the degree of M.D. from the Long Island College Hospital; in 1887 the degrees A.M. and Ph.D. from the Illinois Wesleyan University; and in 1902 L.H.D. from Allegheny College. Immediately after his graduation in 1880, he became managing editor of the Annals of Anatomy and Surgery, a position he most creditably filled until 1883, when he entered the Medical Department of the United States Army as Assistant Surgeon, with the rank of Lieutenant. In 1888 he was advanced to the rank of Captain. In 1898 at the breaking out of the Spanish-American war he was made Brigade Surgeon, with the rank of Major; he was Surgeon of one of the first regiments sent South, serving in that capacity at Mobile and Tampa, and later going to Jacksonville as Chief Surgeon of the forces under Gen. Lawton. When the forces of that General were formed into the Seventh Army Corps under the command of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, he remained with them in the capacity of Executive and Medical Supply Officer until the fall of 1899, when he was detached and placed in command of the Army Medical Supply Depot, established at Savannah, Ga., a duty which occupied his attention until failing health required him to relinquish active service, and in 1900 he was placed on the retired list. During his army career lie experienced considerable service in the field against the Sioux, Crow and Cheyenne Indians, and against Mexican insurrectos. He was the author of the first system of drill for the United States Army Hospital Corps, published in the United States, and his work on "First Aid in Illness and Injury," the first edition of which was issued in 1892, has maintained its position as the principal text-book for the instruction of the Hospital Corps from its publication to the present time. In 1896 he was appointed 14 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. Assistant Secretary of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, becoming secretary and editor in 1897 - a position which with an interval of two years he has held to the present time. Under his guidance this association has grown from a comparatively small voluntary organization to be an important official body incorporated by Congress and recognized by the United States government and by foreign powers. He established the Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States as a quarterly in 1901, and as a monthly in 1902. Besides his work in the army, Dr. Pilcher has filled chairs of military surgery in a number of institutions of learning, being Lecturer on Military Hygiene, Starling Medical College, 1896; Professor of Military Surgery, Ohio Medical University, 1896-97; Professor of Military Surgery, Creighton Medical College, 1897-99; Professor of Anatomy and Embryology, Dickinson College, 1899-1900; Emeritus Professor of Military Surgery, Ohio Medical University, 1898; Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, Dickinson School of Law, 1899; and Professor of Sociology, Dickinson College, 1900-1902. Dr. Pilcher has spent a busy life, but has found time to give his valuable researches and practical ideas to the world. The articles from his pen are numerous, among them being: "First Aid in Illness and Injury," English Edition, London, 1892 - American Editions, New York, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1901 (this work is a recognized authority in the United States, being the official text book of the United States Army and Navy, and of the American Red Cross); "Life and Labors of Elijah H. Pilcher," New York, 1893; "Columbus Book of the Military Surgeons," Columbus, 1897; "The Seals and Arms of Pennsylvania," Harrisburg, 1902; "The Surgeon Generals of the United States Army" 1904; (in collaboration with others) "Reference Handbook of Medical Sciences," New York, 1888, 1893; and about forty monographs on scientific and general subjects, and several hundred contributions to periodical literature, among the latter being "A New Field of Honor," in Scribner's Magazine; "Transportation of the Disabled," published by the Military Service Institution and in the Reference Hand-book of Medical Sciences; "Building of a Soldier;" "Place of Physical Training in the Military Service;" "Annals and Achievements of American Surgery;" "Chauliac and Mondeville;" "Mundimus and the Anatomy of the Middle Ages;" "Outlawry on the Mexican Border;" "One Sioux Dance;" etc. He is engaged in the preparation of a book on the "Pilchers in England and America" for early publication. Besides his editorial work on Annals of Anatomy and Surgery, he was office editor, 1887-89; contributing editor, 1889; editor Health Department, New York Christian Advocate, 1887-95; associate editor Columbus Medical Journal, 1896-99; collaborator of Janus, of Amsterdam, Holland, a Journal of Medical History, 1897; associate editor of the Pennsylvania Archives, fourth series; editor of the Proceedings of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, 1897-99; editor of the Journal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, 1901-. He is the translator of "Tillaux' Topographical Anatomy," from the French; "Mundimus' Anatomy," from Medieval Latin; and Pierre Franco's "Brief Surgery," from Medieval French. Dr. Filcher has been honored with mem- CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 15 bership in some of the most noted professional societies in the world - societies whose membership is a high distinction. He is an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Railway Surgery, and of the Columbus Academy of Medicine; honorary member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the State of Ohio, of the Ohio Medical Society, of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and of the Cumberland County Medical Society; life member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States; fellow of the American Academy of Medicine; member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, of the Cumberland Valley Medical Association, of the American Medical Association; the American Medical Editors Association (1st vice-president in 1904), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the American Economic Association, of the Military Service Institution of the United States, and of the Hamilton Library Association, Carlisle; compatriot of the Sons of the American Revolution (medal for service in the Spanish-American war) and companion of the Order of Foreign Wars of the United States. Fraternally, he also belongs to St. John's Lodge, F. and A.M.; and True Friends Lodge, No. 56, K.P. He is an honorary member of the Jr. O.U.A.M., and a member and vice president of the Old Northwest Genealogical Society. He was the organizer and secretary of the International Congress of Military Surgeons held at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. In 1883, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Major Pilcher was married to Mina Adela Parker, a descendant of an old New England family and a niece of George Edward Reed, S.T.D., LL.D., president of Dickinson College.