The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-12
DIR. ABRAHAM jacob
DIES IN LAKE HOME
Noted New York Physician, 80
Years Old, Succumbs After
Painting Spell.
ONCE A POOR IMMIGRANT
'Nestor Of American Medicine
Loved and Honored by Doc
tors and Laymen.

BOLTON LANDING, Lake George, July
11.-Dr. Abraham jacob noted New
York physician. died at his summer homo
here at IL o'clock last night DR.. Jacob
had been in his usual good health until
three days ago. He complained yester-
day of fatigue and about o'clock SUI
fered a fainting spell, after which no
passed into comatose state and re-
manned in that condition until the end.
DIR. jacob was in his ninetieth year.
with the aged physician when he died
were his daughter. Mrs. George Nc
Aneny Of New York. and Drs Francis
Huber and Willy Meyer. Funeral ar
rangements have not been announced.
but 1t is probable the body will be taken
| to New York on Saturday or Sunday.
DR.. jacob came to his summer home
with his daughter and grandchildren
about June and divided his time in his
| accustomed way in long walks on the
lake shore with his grandchildren and In
| writing. His WIFE who was DR.. Mary
c. Putnam, died in 1906.
| DR.. Abraham jacob was one OF the best
known physician specialists in the coun-
l
nearly seventy years he contributed
much of value to medical knowledge.
His New York home was at 10 East
Forty-seventh street, where he lived with
his daughter. Mrs. George McAneny,
wife of the former President of the
Board of Aldermen.
Known throughout professional cir
cles as The Grand Old Man of Medi-
cine" DR.. Jacob seldom gave a thought
1 Ill n
| this he was still in active practice at an
age when most men feel justified in SEEK
Ing retirement. IL not indeed compelled
to do so. Less than a year ago DR..
jacob jumped from the second story OF
his summer home to the ground when
the place was burning and escaped with
nothing worse than a shaking up and a
few bruises
On the occasion Of his eighty-eighth
birthday. little more than a year ago,
| Or. Jacob gave to THE SUN short
epitome of his views on longevity. II
| was this:
1T have no formula for long life.
have never feared old age. have al
ways worked hard, chiefly because had
to. I came to this country as poor i'm
| migrant and I had to work or starve
Now am ready for whatever comes
Called the Savior of Babies.
| When DIR. Jacob was about to be In
augurated as president Of the American
Medical Association in 1919 he was pre-
scented by the retiring executive. the late
DIR. John b. Murphy, as the Nestor OF
| American medicine. At dinner given
by noted physicians in celebration of his
elghty-ffth birthday he was introduced
by Nathan Straus as "the Father Abra-
ham OF the twentieth century--the savior
of babies.'
To scores of medical men of the city
all prominent In the profession. who were
proud to number themselves among his
assistants" he was regarded as q
kindly and helpful mentor n living pre-.
cept worthy Of devotion and emulation
| Hundreds Of Jews on the East Side Of
New York called him simply ''the Pro
fessor," but counted him as a friend.
In such regard was the little man o.
the wintry locks. the shaggy brows. tn,
| spare, compact figure, held by practi
toner and iayman. He lived nearly G
score OF years longer than the allotted
three score and ten. For almost rs lont
as the normal tenure of mans life. as Il
Is hxed In Scripture. he was active II
his profession. Almost to the last h,
was an enthusiast, full OF energy. seem
ingly of an endurance which would know
no limit.
Opposed to Quackery.
In his long medical experience he saw
the evolution of modern methods ant
modern treatment When new discover
les were made he was one of the frs
whose opinions would be sought. H,
was never outstripped by modernism MOI
did he ever lose his revolutionary hardi
ness. He struck out boldly at the indif
ference of the people to babies health
at over large families, at tuberculosi
prevention. He was ever an uncompro
missing foe Of quackery and fads.
I DR.. jacob was born In Hartum, West
phalia. Germany. May 6, 1880. He re
ceived his preparatory education In tn
Gymnasium of Minden, and his universlt,
work included studies at Greifswal,
GS47-4s). Goettingen US4s-4s) an,
Bonn, whore he received his NJ d. de
gree is 1851. Even in his student day
the idealism and the independent spiri
which were to show themselves In al
his work in later life were irrepressibls
Carl Schurz. who met him at Bonn tn
year before his graduation, said at DR.
Jacobs SEVENTEEN birthday dinner:
His convictions might have been hon
estly modified or changed by super
study or larger experience, but the
would not yield an inch to the reduc
lions Of fortunes or to tho frowns o
favors OF power And as nothing coui
induce him to renounce or even to equiv
ocate about the faith he honestly he'll
he went to jail for 1t, suffering hi
martyrdom with that inhexible and a
the same time modest fortitude which
the tombstone OF true manhood.
Thus to have served a term in pris
on was with him a mark OF fidelity [
his conception OF his duty rs q either
And that has been the type Of his cit
zenship ever since"
Served Two Years I'm Prison.
For two years was the young medics
! graduate behind the bars In Berlin, Co
logne, Minden and Bielfeld, accused &
, treason and lese majestic. After his dis
charge he went to Manchester, England
but In few months he sailed for thi
country. In telling Of his experience 1
getting here DR.. jacob once said:
zone of my old text books was OF sps
. cfal value and proved of more than loci
service-that Is what every specialist
work should be-for, strapped over m
revolving abdomen, 1t protected m
. against sea sickness when. in forty-thrt
! days, / crossed the Atlantic on the GOO
Boston three master, Trimountain,
September and October, 1883. That tri
{ closed my European life. the last tw
years OF which had been an entire los
D to me-"
Just forty years later. in 1898. Gel
4 many tried TO win him back With Il
D OFFER of the chair OF pediatrics In Il