Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 1

Chapter One

Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine

On June 8, 1838, a small house three-quarters of a mile south of the Hartwick 

Lutheran Seminary in Otsego County, New York, reverberated with the 

wailing of a newborn infant. It was the home of Reverend Levi Sternberg. 

His wife, Margaret, with the assistance of her mother and sisters, had delivered a 

healthy boy whom they christened George Miller in honor of his maternal grandfather. George Miller Sternberg was born and raised in a stable, well-ordered society 

directed by academic endeavors and the church bell. His early education, both 

religious and secular, prepared him to enter the evangelical Lutheran ministry, but 

his passion for science led him to medicine, and two failed civilian practices led 

him into the Army Medical Department in the spring of 1861. It was an inauspicious 

beginning for a man who would become an internationally recognized bacteriologist, medical researcher, sanitarian, social reformer, and author; a combat-proven 

medical officer respected by his peers and line officers alike; and the Army Surgeon 

General. Sternberg’s contributions to medical science and military medicine made a 

profound impact not only during his lifetime, but they also established a valuable 

legacy for the Army Medical Department of the 20th century.

Sternberg’s ancestors were German Palatines who came to the New World 

in 1709 searching for peace and economic stability not to be found in Europe. 

They settled in the Schoharie Valley in upstate New York, raised large families, 

and became valued members of the Otsego County community and the Lutheran 

Church. Sternberg’s father was named Levi, for the Hebrew tribe charged with the 

service of the sanctuary, by his mother and she consecrated him at his baptism to 

the work of the Lord.1

That work began for 14-year-old Levi in the spring of 1828 when he moved 

into the George B. Miller home at Hartwick Seminary just south of Cooperstown, 

New York. Reverend Miller, an assistant professor at the seminary, would become 

principal of the Classical and Theological Schools in 1830. Through Miller’s mentorship and guidance, Levi developed academically and spiritually. He graduated 
2 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

from Union College in Schenectady in 1835 and returned to Hartwick in the fall 

of that year to resume theological studies under Miller. In early 1837, Levi looked 

forward to becoming a licensed minister, and, with a secure position and salary at the 

seminary as assistant professor, he had purchased a small cottage three-quarters 

of a mile south of the seminary. He was now in a strong position to press his 

matrimonial ambitions with Miller’s eldest daughter. Margaret Levering Miller 

was 19; well educated; read German, French, Italian, and Spanish; and was an accomplished organist. Levi had known her since she was 10-years-old, and he had 

watched her mature into a charming, talented woman of extraordinary character. 

On September 7, 1837, Reverend Miller joined the couple in marriage. Nine months 

later, on June 8, 1838, Levi’s ordination by the Hartwick Synod was eclipsed by the 

birth of his first son.2

George Miller Sternberg was born into a society based on peace, charity, 

and Christian brotherhood, and tempered with patience and moderation. This 

small, utopian world in which he resided was a tranquil island, created largely 

by the Moravian-influenced Lutheran religious philosophy of Ernest Hazelius 

and grandfather Miller that floated in a sea of Lutheran Pietist radicalism. 

This radicalism grew from dissatisfaction with the New York Lutheran Synod 

concerning essential church doctrine and its implementation. For almost a 

generation, fervent Pietist congregations of upstate New York had watched the 

New York Synod slip into an acceptance of rationalist thought while simultaneously rejecting the “New Measures” of revivalism, extended prayer meetings, 

public conversion, and moral reform. This was anathema to the Lutheran Pietists, 

particularly those in Schoharie and Montgomery counties, where a millenialist 

philosophy was fervently embraced, and Hartwick became caught up in the 

religious turmoil.3

Fortunately for Levi and Margaret, the Hartwick Synod had a vacant pastoral 

position in Danville, New York. In the fall of 1839, Levi took charge of the 

Lutheran churches in these communities. Levi was a powerful and successful 

evangelist with a strong desire to bring people into the bonds of Christ. While 

Levi’s position in the community and the synod grew, so did the Sternberg 

family. Theodore was born September 15, 1840, followed by John Frederick 

on March 12, 1843, and Rosina on March 8, 1845.4 By the time Rosina was 

born, her father had developed a chronic hoarseness and sore throat, commonly 

known as “minister’s sore throat,” after a severe cold in the winter of 1844–1845.5

Although the cold did not help, Levi’s condition—more correctly termed granular 

pharyngitis—resulted from his extended and forceful dissertations from the 

pulpit. Pronounced incurable by physicians, his condition compelled him to 

resign his position in Danville in favor of recruiting duties. Over the next few 

months, Levi traveled through Pennsylvania and Maryland, visited the Gettysburg 

Seminary, and received an education in church politics while his throat healed. 

He also thought a great deal about his future in the church and where he could 

perform valuable service now that his throat would no longer allow him to 

preach to large congregations. Levi focused on the city of Buffalo, with its increasing 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 3

German population and only one German Lutheran Church of the New York Synod, 

in the summer of 1845, and the hope of establishing an English-speaking Lutheran 

congregation among Buffalo’s German population.6

Formal education for seven-year-old George began in the fall of 1845 in Buffalo’s 

English-speaking public schools. The three years he spent in Buffalo left happy 

memories, but in mid-1848 Grandmother Miller took him back to Hartwick. This 

was no small change for a boy of 10 years; however, George did not give it much 

attention in a biographical sketch written years later. Apparently, Mrs. Miller 

thought his health was suffering in the harsh Buffalo climate. This may have been 

true, but the Sternbergs had been thriving in the long, hard winters of upstate 

New York for generations. A more plausible explanation for George’s return to the 

academy was for the educational opportunities it offered under the guidance of 

Grandfather Miller. The fact that Theodore joined his older brother at Hartwick 

the following year adds credence to this theory. Although George could not 

appreciate it at the time, he was more fortunate than most of his peers in that his 

parents and maternal grandparents were extremely well educated. They placed a 

high premium upon secular and religious education and—apparently—would not 

deny these to their children merely because it demanded family separation. But 

for 10-year-old George, who was particularly attached to his mother, it was the 

separation that loomed large as he said farewell to parents and siblings.7

George’s new home was the principal’s house at the seminary. It was a large, twostory, T-shaped structure, and, in the words of Alfred Hiller who later married George’s 

Aunt Henrietta, “a model Christian home with its air of unselfish love and devotion 

and intellectual culture.”8 If George thought his home in Buffalo was crowded since 

the birth of his sister Emily in February, he would find his grandparent’s home even 

more so. In addition to his grandparents; his aunts Charlotte, Susan, Anna, Henrietta, 

and Mary; Uncle Henry Miller; and half-a-dozen or more Hartwick students were 

boarded there at any given moment. Despite being crowded, the Miller home was 

most assuredly endowed with love, devotion, and culture.9

At 53, George Miller was wiser and more patient than when he first came to the 

seminary, but he continued to exhibit the same unbounded energy and enthusiasm 

for intellectual and religious pursuits that he had shown a dozen years before. The 

ebullience that emanated from his diminutive frame was complemented by mental 

faculties that were simultaneously perceptive and intuitive, comprehensive, and perpetually active. He taught, tutored, and conducted recitations for the greater part of 

each day and then tutored those who boarded with him in the evenings. Afterwards, 

he attended to his own educational and spiritual needs into the early morning hours. 

He preached on Sunday mornings and led prayer meetings on Sunday evenings. 

Miller never lacked for companions during work or leisure time and endeavored 

never to squander a minute. Should a free moment present itself, such as between 

classes, he would read whatever he could find. Even during his daily walks across the 

neighboring hills or while tending to his garden, he instructed and mentored those 

who always gathered around him. This man, for the next two years, was teacher, 

minister, disciplinarian, and loving father to his oldest grandson, and he would 
4 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

continue to heavily influence the boy’s daily life and education for another seven 

years. By nature and nurture, Miller contributed—significantly and positively—to 

George Sternberg’s intellectual, religious, and personal development.10

Life in the Miller home was undoubtedly structured. If it were not, its very size 

and daily obligations would cause it to grind to a halt. Young George rose early, performed ablutions, recited prayers, ate breakfast, and had lessons with his grandfather before the sun had climbed very high. Although reading, writing, and arithmetic were enjoyable, and church history had to be learned, the study of Latin 

and German were a bane to him. George admitted he “detested languages,” an 

attitude he only overcame later in life with the help of his second wife, Martha.11

The frustration this must have caused his grandfather—who was proficient in the 

ancient and modern languages—and his multilingual parents can only be imagined. 

George’s education, however, was not derived solely from the classroom. Grandfather 

Miller was a wellspring of knowledge and experience that encompassed gardening, fishing, sailing, swimming, and various interesting activities to a young boy. 

With his neighborhood friends, George played among and explored the beautiful, 

wooded hills and valleys of Otsego County, where he developed a profound 

appreciation for nature and natural history.12

Although it is difficult to accurately follow George’s adolescent development, it 

is fair to conclude that delicate family issues began to occupy his mind and complicate his life by 1851. The Buffalo mission had collapsed through lack of funding 

in 1849. Levi and Margaret accepted the first vacant pastoral position they could 

find in Middleburgh, New York. Three more children had been added to the 

family: Emily, on February 29, 1848; and twin boys, Charles Hazelius and Edward 

Endress, on June 15, 1850. At the same time, growing discontent emerged among 

the seminary trustees in regard to Miller’s administration of the academy, and they 

called Levi to replace his father-in-law as principal. Although Miller encouraged 

Levi to accept the offer and the Sternbergs were happy to return to Hartwick, Levi 

was acutely aware of Miller’s hurt feelings and very sensitive to the fact that the 

father would now be working for the son. Levi gave him control of the Theological 

School, and he and Margaret let the Millers remain in the principal’s house.13 What 

impact these events had on George is unknown, but he admits to being “restless” 

at 13.14 Whether this represents difficulties adjusting to changes at home, at school, 

or an acceptable adolescent wanderlust is unclear, but a change of venue was 

apparently an appropriate treatment. In any event, Levi found a job for George at 

Elihu Phinney’s Bookstore in Cooperstown.15

Cooperstown lies five miles north of Hartwick Seminary. It was a prosperous 

village in 1851 as businesses grew with the population. A telegraph linked 

Cooperstown with Fort Plain in November of that year, and soon after the first 

steam power press was installed for the local newspaper, The Freeman’s Journal. 

The novels of James Fenimore Cooper, the town founder’s son, had glorified the 

beauty of the area and captured the imagination of every schoolboy with adventures of its history. Cooper’s works and almost any other book one could want had 

been sold in the establishment of Elihu and Henry Phinney since 1820. George 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 5

lived with his employer for a year, and this gave him plenty of leisure time to 

investigate the community at large. One of his greatest pleasures was reading the 

fictional works of Cooper or any other writer he could find.16 Accordingly, George 

spent an inordinate amount of time lost in these adventures, the more perilous of 

which were his favorites.17 His mother worried about how her son spent his free 

time. Although American society still considered an overindulgence in fictional 

literature a waste for a young and impressionable mind, greater vices and dangers 

existed in Cooperstown for an adolescent with too much unstructured time and 

the freedom to decide how to use it. George was 14, and his mother thought 

that he should return to his studies. Margaret asked him to come home, and 

George—never rebellious with his mother—returned to the seminary.18

George attended the academy in the summer of 1852 with his Uncle Henry 

Miller, aunts Henrietta and Mary Miller, younger brothers Theodore and Frederick, 

and cousins Charlotte and Mary Bray. Admitting women to the Classical School 

had been Reverend Hazelius’ idea some 34 years earlier, but had not been acted 

on until October 1851 when Levi hired his sister-in-law, Charlotte Miller, as an 

assistant teacher and admitted 27 female students.19 Levi instituted the “Science 

of Common School Teaching” that prepared students to instruct at district public 

schools, and he also expanded the science curriculum. The elder Sternberg’s attitude 

toward science was a reflection of the new era of American science in which he 

was educated. American interest in the study of science beyond its practical 

usefulness began after 1815 and was largely in the purview of physicians. However, 

in a young, expanding nation with few resources and little leisure time for such 

endeavors, the new scientists had to demonstrate some practicality of science for 

society in general. Although this popular acceptance was achieved by declaring that 

the study of natural history and natural philosophy—the study of God’s works—

was enlightening from a moral and religious standpoint, the proposition cast 

scientists in the role of moral teachers, and thus placed them in competition with 

the clergy. As natural laws and phenomena were recognized, described, and defined 

by scientists, theologians feared that God would soon be calculated out of the life 

equation. The potential conflict created by this situation was averted as clergymen 

were encouraged to pursue the study of science, and scientists used their discoveries 

to illustrate the power, plans, and moral governance of God. As a theologian and 

academician, nothing pleased Levi more than to demonstrate the interrelationship of science and religion at his institution. To his current science curriculum 

of chemistry, physiology, astronomy, botany, and geology, he added lectures on 

electricity, hydrostatics, navigation, optics, and some civil engineering.20

George found his classes interesting and rewarding, particularly those in the 

natural sciences—chemistry, geology, botany, astronomy, and physiology—and 

mathematics. Under the tutelage of his father and grandfather, George’s inclination 

toward and aptitude for scientific study were cultivated; the foundation for his 

future endeavors was firmly established.21 As George matured academically, he 

also matured spiritually. In a letter to daughter Henrietta on December 27, 1853, 

George Miller noted that George had communed with the church for the first time 
6 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

on Christmas Day. Miller also stated that, “George had been in town in Mr. Phinney’s 

bookstore, and Margaret was anxious he should attend the meetings.”22 Obviously, 

the bookstore or something else in Cooperstown had a great attraction for the 

15-year-old. Margaret’s anxiety may have sprung from a fear that her son’s religious 

awakening was being delayed by secular interests and that exposure to more revival 

meetings was needed to induce the required public conversion. If so, her worries 

were unfounded. George gladly attended the meeting. As Grandfather Miller told 

Henrietta, “...it was not long before he [young George] expressed a hope.”23

George completed Hartwick’s three-year classical curriculum in 1854. What he 

wanted to do with his life at this age is not altogether clear. Although he stated, 

“...I might have continued to attend school at Hartwick & live under the paternal 

roof...,” this is the only definite reference found that George ever contemplated 

entering the ministry.24 He felt obligated to get a job to assist in supporting the 

continually growing Sternberg clan. Margaret had given birth to William Augustus 

on March 14, 1853, for a total of eight children ranging in ages from 1 to 16. As 

George later recalled, “My father’s small income & large family kept him poor 

& in debt. He confided in me...& I began to feel that I ought to do something 

for myself....I accordingly, at 16 years of age, took off my ‘round about,’ & put 

on a coat with tails and started out to find a school for the winter.”25 The school 

he found was “in an out-of-the-way place in the hills some ten or twelve miles 

from home.”26 It was undoubtedly one of the numerous common schools that provided rural children with the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic in a 

highly disciplined environment. Although these basics satisfied parents of the era, 

the academic and moral qualities of the teachers were often highly questionable. 

Educational reformers in the state of New York attempted to establish standards 

for teachers and schools at this time. In George, even with his inexperience, they 

found an academic gem with character for $10 per month plus board. George 

stated he “went home every Saturday, but the separation from my mother for a 

whole week was a great trial.”27

The separation anxiety George endured had dissipated enough by the following 

winter, 1855–1856, for him to secure a teaching position—through the influence of friends—in New Jersey at $20 per month. No Sternberg references 

state who these friends were or in which school George taught. Most likely 

they were acquaintances of his grandfather’s or Ernest Hazelius, and he may 

have taught at the New Germantown academy established by Hazelius. George 

was capable and competent both in the classroom and as an administrator. He 

received praise from his supervisors and a raise in salary to $100 per quarter. 

Regrettably for the school board, his sojourn in New Jersey was short-lived. 

George returned to Hartwick after his teaching obligations were fulfilled following 

his second term in the summer of 1856.28

George stated that he “saved money and returned to Hartwick to continue 

my studies & to teach in the Seminary.”29 He was hired at a salary of $210 per 

year, almost a 50 percent reduction in salary from his New Jersey position if 

George’s memory was correct. His father allowed him to teach the subjects he 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 7

liked, which included mathematics, chemistry, and natural philosophy. What 

George had saved for and was preparing to study, however, was not theology.30

Sternberg stated, “At this time [summer 1856] I decided to study medicine and 

commenced the study of Anatomy and Physiology under the direction of an excellent preceptor – Dr. Horace Lathrop, A.M., M.D., of Cooperstown.”31 An alumnus 

of Hartwick Seminary (1844) and Hamilton College (1846) in Clinton, New York, 

the 32-year-old Lathrop established his practice in Cooperstown after graduation 

from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1852. Lathrop was soon recognized as an inspiring leader in the community in regard to academic and religious 

matters. George’s interest in medicine may have originated with Lathrop, as he 

worked and lived just down the street from the physician’s office in 1852, and Lathrop 

was probably a well-known customer at Phinney’s.32

Why George chose to pursue a medical career, how long he pondered the idea, or 

what thoughts and comments his parents offered on the subject have not been preserved. At mid-century, the medical profession offered few prospects of prestige or 

financial security. It was considered by many to be an inferior profession, a waste of 

an intelligent man’s talents. It was not a decision to be made expeditiously by a young 

man of his limited financial resources. Preceptor fees were at least $100 per year, 

and medical college tuition for two terms ranged from $200 to $400. If George took 

advantage of available pre-term sessions and other extracurricular medical opportunities, total costs could have reached $1,000. In addition to these expenditures, 

he would have to pay for books, room, and board.33 But, George was adamant on the 

issue. Theology, as a profession, held no interest for him, and a minister’s position 

and salary were tentative at best. Although Levi could not provide his son financial 

support, an enigmatic maternal uncle, Grandon Bray, who resided in San Francisco, 

California, would not allow his nephew’s dreams to be so easily destroyed. He offered 

to pay for George’s entire medical education. It was an offer that was accepted as a 

loan and repaid in full.34

When George Sternberg decided to become a physician in the mid-1850s, American 

medical education and practice were experiencing a period of reform and transition 

in the midst of the still prevalent Jacksonian democratic ideology. Practicality was 

the benchmark by which all pursuits were measured. Knowledge that had no obvious 

utility to the man on the street—or required special education to understand—was 

regarded with suspicion, as were those who had acquired it. Professionalism—with its 

flavor of class privilege—was an affront to the egalitarian ethos of the masses and became the antithesis of this cultural philosophy. Great confidence was placed in the 

skills of apprentice-trained physicians, the products of the burgeoning country 

medical schools, and the increasing number of irregular practitioners. Standards for 

degrees and licensing became almost nonexistent, the definition of a qualified medical 

practitioner became obscure, and quackery proliferated.

Academic leaders in the medical profession attempted to reform the structure and 

content of medical education, but the old apprenticeship system, whereby a student 

was apprenticed to a physician–preceptor for two to three years, remained the 

primary path by which a young man became a physician. Originally, American 
8 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

medical schools had supplemented apprentice training, but after 1840, by their 

sheer weight of numbers and not educational quality, they were beginning to 

replace the older system. The two methods of instruction developed an agreeable symbiosis by mid-century, in which preceptors taught their charges various 

subjects from the clinical perspective and then referred them to a medical school 

where the faculty provided the scientific basis for these subjects. In general, a formal 

medical education consisted of two four-month courses of lectures, evidence of a 

three-year apprenticeship, and a final private oral examination by the faculty. Some 

schools also required a graduation thesis. The curriculum covered three broad 

fields: (1) basic sciences consisting of anatomy, physiology, chemistry, botany, 

physics, mineralogy, and zoology; (2) theory and diagnosis of disease consisting of 

pathology and the theory of medicine; and (3) treatment of disease. However, the 

second four-month session was identical to the first; a graded curriculum of increasing difficulty was unknown. Hospitals and dispensaries were not routinely associated with medical schools and, therefore, clinical instruction beyond apprenticeship was relatively uncommon. Major deficiencies of the apprenticeship system 

were the questionable quality of instructors; low entrance requirements; absence 

of a standardized, systematic, and progressive course of instruction; and absence 

of hospital training. The American Medical Association recognized these flaws 

and worked to establish two six-month terms, three courses of study, a minimum 

of seven professors at each school, compulsory dissection, proof of apprenticeship, 

and attendance at a clinic or hospital as minimal graduation requirements.35 This 

call for reform was met with lukewarm support or outright opposition at local, 

state, and federal levels. The medical profession at large defined a capable physician 

as a man of experience with a large practical knowledge base, sound judgment, 

and high moral character who interacted regularly with his patients. It was not 

imperative that the physician’s knowledge of basic sciences was comprehensive, 

but rather that he was able to act decisively at the proper time. For many in the 

profession, the education and experience gained through an apprenticeship was 

considered sufficient for this purpose.

To gain greater clinical experience, postgraduate physicians who could afford 

it supplemented their medical education in Europe by the 1850s, particularly in 

France. Patient observation and examination were emphasized in France. The 

practical and theoretical aspects of science were dissociated as the hospital took 

center stage as the only worthwhile school for systematic clinical instruction in 

physical diagnosis, pathologic anatomy, and the early quantification of diseases. 

Americans relished the practical experience gained at the bedside, in the dissection room, and in many private courses offered in Paris. The egalitarian nature of 

French empiricism with its skepticism, disdain of basic sciences, and distrust of 

laboratory-based, investigational medicine appealed mightily to the disposition of 

antebellum America and influenced the philosophy of American medical education 

and practice until after the Civil War.

Many of the medical professors who taught Sternberg received postgraduate 

training in European cities or were trained by professors who had experienced 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 9

the French clinics. Upon returning to the United States, these physicians became 

part of the medical elite and influenced the profession in both the clinical and 

academic arenas. The profound effect of the French experience became manifest 

in their classrooms and, when combined with their own originality and ingenuity, 

profoundly affected Sternberg and his peers.

The majority of medical students of this era only had an elementary education. 

In the words of Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University, “an American 

physician or surgeon may be, and often is, a coarse and uncultivated person, devoid 

of intellectual interests outside of his calling, and quite unable to either speak or 

write his mother tongue with accuracy.”36 Obtaining a sound classical education 

in the mid-19th century was difficult. Although preceptors commonly required 

an apprentice to have a basic proficiency in mathematics, English grammar, and 

natural history, and to be knowledgeable in Latin, these requirements were often 

waived. In this atmosphere, Sternberg was significantly more prepared and accomplished than most of his contemporaries. He had been raised in a home where 

higher education and social cultivation were valued. Early working and teaching 

experiences had developed his maturity, poise, and confidence beyond his 18 

years. All of these attributes contributed to a high recommendation to Dr. Lathrop.

Sternberg began the first phase of his apprenticeship, called “reading medicine 

with the doctor,” at Horace Lathrop’s office on the corner of First and Chestnut 

Streets in the summer of 1856.37 This didactic phase included not only anatomy and 

physiology, but also chemistry, botany, materia medica (pharmacy), and clinical 

medicine. Lathrop was highly qualified academically, as well as by character, age, and 

disposition, to responsibly discharge his duties as preceptor and mentor. His ability 

to teach and inspire students came from an inherent ability and the influence of his 

own mentors at Jefferson Medical College. Two of Lathrop’s instructors had been 

Doctors Robley Dunglison and John K. Mitchell. One of America’s earliest experimental physiologists and microscopists, Dunglison gained some renown by assisting 

with experiments, preparing material for microscopic observations, and performing 

chemical analyses of gastric juice provided by Army Surgeon William Beaumont 

during his studies on digestion in 1833.38 Dunglison continually preached to his 

students that physiology “is the real foundation of medical knowledge.”39 Mitchell 

was also an avid microscopist and used microscopic evidence to construct a theory 

of epidemic disease based on fungal origin. He wrote on many diverse subjects such 

as infectious disease, osmosis, and liquefaction, and told his students “to improve 

their minds by going beyond the boundaries of the dissecting room and didactic 

education.”40 Dunglison and Mitchell believed that to be a good physician one must 

also be a good naturalist, an idea that found fertile ground in Sternberg’s mind. Both 

professors thought beyond the limits of the accepted medical training and practice, 

and clearly discerned the relationship of science to medicine. Through Lathrop, 

Sternberg received Dunglison’s and Mitchell’s knowledge, wisdom, and philosophy.

Sternberg read with his preceptor for nearly 24 months. The standard time period 

for an apprentice to complete this portion of his work was 18 to 20 months, but 

teaching duties at Hartwick may have precluded him from full-time study, and 
10 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

required him to extend this instruction an extra four to six months. In the fall of 

1858, he traveled to Buffalo, New York, for his first formal medical lectures.41

He reported to the dean, Dr. Thomas F. Rochester, as directed by the annual announcement, to secure “good board, with room, fuel, and lights” for $3 per week.42

Where these accommodations were located is unknown, but it may be presumed 

that they were near the medical school building that stood on the corner of Main 

and Virginia Streets. This large stone structure was “constructed with express 

reference to medical instruction, containing airy and spacious apartments for 

dissection, museum, etc; and is exclusively devoted to the medical department....”43

Adjacent to the college was the Sisters of Charity Hospital that accommodated approximately 1,000 patients a year. A quarter of a mile away, on the corner of High 

and Goodrich Streets, stood the completed west wing of the new Buffalo Hospital 

with a 150-bed capacity. According to the annual announcement for 1856–1857, 

in these facilities particular attention was “paid to the subject of physical exploration; and opportunities will be afforded for becoming acquainted practically with 

the important physical signs of pulmonary and cardiac diseases...pointed out 

at the bedside by the professor of clinical medicine or the clinical assistant. Patients...at the college are examined and prescribed for before the class; and surgical operations are frequently performed in the college amphitheater.”44 Also close 

was a lying-in hospital where the students were “instructed and practiced in foetal 

auscultation,... in the conduct of labors, both natural and artificial, and in all the 

minutiae pertaining to the care of the parturient female.”45 The annual announcement went on to proudly proclaim, “it is believed that few institutions, if any, in 

the country, afford better facilities for the acquisition of practical knowledge in the 

departments of surgery, medicine, and midwifery.”46

The 12-year-old Medical Department of Buffalo University was proud of the 

school’s physical plant, faculty, and quality of education. Undeniably, it was a 

leader among American medical schools in establishing clinical sciences based 

on the French model. Doctor Sanford Hunt, a professor at the college and editor 

of the Buffalo Medical Journal from 1852 to 1858, declared the institution “offered 

the best in clinical advantages of any school in the United States,”47 and the close 

proximity of the clinics ensured that “no student can urge the excuse of inconvenience for absenting himself from them....”48 The journal also praised the Sisters of 

Charity Hospital for providing these advantages. The Medical Department had a 

stable faculty composed of 13 professors, in an era when many faculties were considered large with six to eight members. Extremely capable, experienced, and—

at times—controversial, these practitioners had an eye for educational reform. 

Austin Flint, Sr., although no longer professor of pathology and clinical medicine 

when Sternberg began his classes, left an enduring legacy as an excellent physical 

diagnostician and champion of conservative medicine in his son, Austin Flint, Jr. 

Auscultation and percussion were routinely performed on patients in the medical clinics and taught to the students just as when Flint senior had been on the 

faculty. Frank H. Hamilton, professor of surgery, became nationally known for 

his general and orthopaedic surgical skills, pioneering work in plastic surgery and 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 11

surgical instrument inventions and modifications, and for being a medical educator 

and author. Hamilton published the first of his well-known fracture tables in 1849 

that summarized fracture treatment, methods, and results. James P. White, chairman 

of obstetrics and diseases of women and children, received a liberal European 

postgraduate education in London, Paris, and Vienna. He brought various teaching 

techniques to western New York that included the use of manikins to instruct students 

in forceps-assisted deliveries. In 1850, he established the first clinical course in 

demonstrative midwifery at Buffalo in an era when many physicians graduated 

without observing a live birth.49 Sternberg also had his first introduction to an 

outstanding physiologist, John C. Dalton, Jr. at Buffalo. More accurately, he was 

introduced to Dalton’s teaching methods. Dalton resigned his position as professor of physiology and anatomical microscopy at Buffalo in 1854 to teach at the 

College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, but his brilliant lecture style 

continued in the classroom of Dr. Austin W. Nichols. Dalton had studied with the 

eminent French physician and pioneer physiologist, Claude Bernard, who 

emphasized the role of experimentation in medical science and the independence 

of physiological science. Dalton became the first American to devote himself 

entirely to experimental physiology. He established the first physiology laboratory in 

the country at the Buffalo school, and he was also the first to use vivisectional 

demonstrations and practical demonstrations with the microscope as classroom teaching techniques.50

Sternberg began the regular 16-week school term at the beginning of November 

with an introductory lecture from Theophilus Mack, professor of materia medica 

and therapeutics. He had attended preliminary lectures in anatomy, given by 

Benjamin H. Lemon, and those in clinical medicine and surgery, given by Doctors 

Austin Flint, Jr. and Frank H. Hamilton, in October. Passage of the Anatomical Bill 

in 1854 had helped alleviate the difficulty in obtaining cadaveric specimens. The 

college catalog noted the “supply of anatomic material is ample,” and anatomical 

dissections continued throughout the regular term.51 Students also had the option 

of receiving instruction in practical and analytical chemistry, physiology, and 

microscopy. Lectures, clinics, dissections, and individual study easily consumed 

the daylight hours of any given day to include Saturdays. Whether Sternberg 

availed himself of the optional classes is unknown; however, his serious, studious 

nature would lead one to believe that he did.52

In the spring of 1859, Sternberg returned to Cooperstown to complete his 

second phase of apprenticeship, known as “riding with the doctor.” Equipped with 

a sound foundation in the basic sciences and experience in medical, surgical, and 

obstetrical clinics, Sternberg accompanied Lathrop on house calls and assisted 

him with surgeries. With his preceptor’s encouragement, Sternberg set his sights 

on the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City for his second lecture 

term. His application was accepted, and by summer’s end Sternberg was settled in 

New York City anticipating his second medical school term.53

The College of Physicians and Surgeons was located at 23rd Street and 4th Avenue. 

Situated near Bellevue Hospital and two blocks from the Demilt Dispensary, the 
12 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

four-story, brick and brownstone building was only three years old when Sternberg 

ascended its stone steps that fronted on 23rd Street. The ground floor contained 

shops and the upper three floors were devoted to the college. A large lecture room, 

chemistry laboratory, and private offices occupied the second floor; an anatomical 

amphitheater that accommodated 300, an anatomical museum and patient waiting and examination rooms filled the second floor; and the third floor contained a 

25-table dissecting room.54

As in Buffalo, Sternberg attended four weeks of preliminary lectures and then 

began the regular term of 18 weeks in late October. The longer term was an innovation of Alexander H. Stevens, president of the college from 1844 to 1857, which 

“resulted in increased efficiency and a material advance in the standard of professional education.”55 Also under Stevens’ stewardship three clinics—in surgery, 

medicine, and obstetrics—were held weekly throughout the academic year rather 

than just during the regular term. By the time of Sternberg’s matriculation, the 

number of clinics each week had increased to four: surgical clinics on Mondays 

and Wednesdays; a medical clinic on Thursdays; and a clinic for females on Friday 

afternoons, which were conducted at the college, the Demilt, Northern, and New 

York dispensaries, and at Bellevue Hospital. In addition, clinics were also held at 

the eye and ear infirmary, and many physicians offered instruction at private 

dispensaries. However, student attendance at the clinics was not mandatory, and 

no practical examinations were conducted to test their clinical skills.56

The college faculty of 16 included three professors emeritus: Alexander H. Stevens, 

Edward Delafield, and John Torrey; seven professors: Joseph M. Smith, Robert 

Watts, Willard Parker, Chandler R. Gilman, Alonzo Clark, John C. Dalton, Jr., and 

Samuel St. John; and six adjunct lecturers and assistants. Although it is true that 

they presented essentially the same material, Sternberg heard more of it during 

the longer term, encountered more clinical cases, and benefited from the personal 

experiences, techniques, and philosophies of another accomplished group of physicians. Willard Parker, professor of surgery, made an enduring impact on Sternberg. Physically robust, enthusiastic, and energetic, Parker was the epitome of the 

competent diagnostician and surgeon. He inspired confidence in his students and 

patients alike. Whereas he trusted the healing powers of nature, he was also 

a pioneer in the performance of several surgical procedures, and Parker never 

let his students forget the value of disease prevention over the limited methods 

for cure available to practitioners. Doctors William L. Detmold and Henry B. 

Sands provided able assistance during surgical lectures and in clinic. Detmold, 

previously a surgeon in the Royal Hanoverian Guards, was an entertaining teacher 

who taught general and orthopaedic surgery and is given credit for introducing 

orthopaedics as a surgical specialty in the United States in 1841. Detmold also established the first public clinic for crippled children in New York. His military 

experience flavored his lectures and proved valuable to many of his students in the 

near future. Alonzo Clark, professor of practical medicine, was not only an able 

classroom instructor, but also a competent clinician and author who verified the 

principles of percussion through postmortem observations and wrote about the 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 13

management of typhoid and cholera. The highly conservative Chandler Gilman, 

professor of obstetrics, captivated his students with his lively style and humorous 

delivery in the lecture room and obstetrical clinic. The professor whose influence 

embraced both the Medical Department at Buffalo and the College of Physicians 

and Surgeons in New York City was John C. Dalton. Sternberg was familiar with 

Dalton’s classroom techniques, but was now able to see them practiced by the 

master firsthand. These are the men who honed and polished the knowledge that 

Sternberg had acquired over the past three years.57

No sources survive to indicate the quality of work that Sternberg performed, 

his class ranking, or what impression he made on his instructors. He sat for, and 

passed, the required graduation examinations in early March 1860. A graduation 

thesis on some aspect of medical science was also required. Sternberg wrote a 

paper on cynanche trachealis, or what physicians today would diagnose as croup, 

which was accepted. With these last academic hurdles successfully negotiated, 

Sternberg anxiously awaited graduation. He received his medical degree with 50 

other classmates in late March 1860.58

By sending Sternberg to lectures first at the Medical Department at Buffalo University and then to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Lathrop conformed to 

a common late antebellum educational practice among preceptors. Students were 

encouraged to attend their first lectures at a smaller, less rigorous, and less expensive medical college, and then sit for their second term at a larger institution. This 

strategy provided experience and added some variety to the otherwise dull and 

repetitive second term. At Buffalo, Sternberg received an excellent educational experience. It prepared him intellectually for the challenges and opportunities of the 

lengthier, more intense, and rapid-paced curriculum found at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. The faculties at both schools comprised some of the most 

outstanding physicians in America during that era—men who were not only well 

trained and innovative in the clinical arts, but also who were progressive educators 

who appreciated the value and relationship of science to medicine. A diploma and 

the professional and social connections from the older, more prestigious College 

of Physicians and Surgeons, however, would potentially greatly benefit Sternberg 

when he began his own practice, presumably in his native New York.59

Considering the state of medical knowledge and practice in mid-19th century 

America, and assuming he truly attended classes and clinics as he indicated, 

Sternberg received a medical education that was as comprehensive and complete 

as could be obtained anywhere in the country. But what did that mean in 1860? 

What knowledge base and medical philosophy did Sternberg take with him as he departed the College of Physicians and Surgeons? He had benefited from the progressive clinical orientation of his professors—observed more disease, touched more 

patients, and learned more diagnostic techniques than students did a generation 

earlier. However, there was very little he could do to cure what he found. Although 

the concept of a distinct natural history for a disease was slowly being accepted, 

specific disease etiologies and symptomatologies—as known today—for the most 

part did not exist. Some diseases—it was believed—could transform from one into 
14 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg 

another, and illness was still considered to be dependent on the environment and a 

person’s physical, emotional, and moral states. Diseases generated disequilibrium 

in the body, and the physician’s role was to reestablish the usual balance by regulating secretions by bleeding and increasing perspiration, urination, or defecation. 

Such interventions, whether mechanical or drug induced, facilitated the body’s 

natural healing processes cure itself. Sternberg understood this philosophy and 

these procedures very well. 

Sternberg would comment years later that the surgical training he received from 

Doctors Parker and Sands had been outstanding. Although this is undeniable, the 

advent of ether and chloroform anesthesia in the 1840s had made surgical intervention more practicable. Furthermore, Sternberg put these surgical skills to use in 

combat a little more than a year after graduation, an experience that probably made 

these men and their lessons more prominent in his memory than those of Flint, 

White, Clark, or Gilman. Collectively, the deep and enduring impact made on him 

by Horace Lathrop and the professors in Buffalo and New York City can be more 

widely appreciated in Sternberg’s approach to the developing science of medicine 

and in the realm of medical literature, education, and professional leadership.60

Sternberg had been raised in an atmosphere of selfless dedication, responsibility, and 

service to family, church, and community. He entered the medical profession with 

an inherent appreciation for science, in general, and a mind that had been trained 

to observe and study science and scientific progress not merely for its own sake, 

but as a duty to God and a means for understanding the Creator’s plans and purposes. Intellectually, he was prepared to accept the challenges and advancements in 

medical science that confronted him during his college years and beyond. Moreover, 

Sternberg simply derived pure pleasure and enjoyment from scientific discovery and 

the technical, hands-on aspects of experimentation. Unfortunately, investigational 

research was considered impractical for a physician in private practice and was 

uncommon in the medical profession for at least another 15 years. 

Laboratory instruction also continued to be resisted in the United States because 

it consumed time from a very busy schedule for no practical purpose. Although 

Sternberg wholeheartedly embraced the concept of laboratory-based scientific 

medicine that was of practical value to the profession later in his career, this idea 

was still in the embryonic stages of development in Germany when he was a student. He was exposed to American laboratory-based science at mid-century at 

both medical colleges; however, Dalton was a showman in the manner in which 

he used his experiments and demonstrations and never considered hands-on 

laboratory instruction a useful or practical pursuit for his students. The passion 

for microscopical endeavors that Sternberg exhibited throughout his career may 

have sprouted in Lathrop’s office and under the Nichols’ instruction in Buffalo, 

but probably took root through the training of Dalton, Clark, and Gilman at the 

College of Physicians and Surgeons. These men had used state-of-the-art microscopes in their classes routinely since 1848. Although Sternberg learned to use the 

microscope for examining anatomical and botanical preparations, it gave him an 

understanding for the potential of this instrument—for example, when combined 
Palatines, Pietists, and Medicine 15

with photography—and prepared him for the role it would play in his later 

researches in bacteriology.61

Professors such as Flint, Hamilton, White, Dalton, Rochester, Clark, and Gilman 

demonstrated the value and necessity of putting new medical knowledge in print 

for the benefit of the medical profession. Sternberg began contributing to the medical 

literature with field reports during the Civil War.62 Often judiciously critical as a 

medical author, Sternberg’s pen would pick up speed in the late 1870s and continue into the 20th century. Finally, the majority of professors in Buffalo and New 

York demonstrated a responsibility to contribute to the education, growth, and 

development of their profession through participation in its organizations. Many 

were at least active members—if not leaders—in local and national medical organizations, such as county medical societies, the American Medical Association, and 

the New York Academy of Medicine, as well as in the government and economy 

of the communities within which they lived. Throughout his career, Sternberg was 

actively involved in the communities where he was posted, and he contributed—

as an officer or general member—to a large number of medical, scientific, and 

social organizations.

Sternberg was an able student who—in retrospect—extracted the most from his 

four years of medical study. Regrettably, what he could not extract from the lecture 

rooms and clinics and what he was in greatest need of was maturity and experience. Time would mature him, but the experience that nurtured self-confidence 

and poise in the treatment room could only be derived from seeing patients in volume. 

In 1860, no paid internship or residency programs existed. To obtain clinical 

experience, a new physician in New York City had three options: (1) go to Europe, 

(2) apply for one of the postgraduate hospital appointments available in the city, 

or (3) attempt to establish one’s own private practice. A European excursion was 

only a pipe dream for Sternberg—if he considered it at all—because the cost 

was prohibitive. House-officer positions also required a fee. By 1866, house-staff 

positions in New York City were awarded to immediate postgraduates on a competitive basis, but social standing rather than academic distinction often directed 

the selection process for these positions. It is doubtful that a minister’s son from 

a rural community in upstate New York could realistically compete with classmates who were sons of New York City physicians or who had studied under such 

prominent local physicians as Gurdon Buck, Willard Parker, and Stephen Smith. 

If Sternberg applied for a postgraduate position, he was not selected. Therefore, 

he entered into the uncertain world of private practice, where he could not earn 

a living and from which he was rescued when shells fell on Fort Sumter in 1861.63
16 The Life and Science of Surgeon General George Miller Sternberg