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Interestingly, by the late 1850s the position of the city physician became political. That same year another ordinance demanded that the heads of the household in the city or within 5 miles of the city, post a sign on their door barring admittance to all if “any person is sick or infected with the Small Pox … ‘Sickness- No Admittance,’ either printed or written in large letters to be posted up in the most conspicuous place on the front of such dwelling or house and to maintain and keep such notice posted there until in the opinion of the City Physician such notice may be safely discontinued.” The council also established a fine for not posting a sign or taking it down. Leach, will vaccinate, as preventative against Small Pox, all applicants that call on him at his office on Fourth, between Hampshire and Vermont streets on all days of the week, (Sundays excepted) between the hours of 2 and 4 o’clock pm at the expense of the city.” Small Pox was a persistent communicable disease. The city put an ad in The Quincy Daily Whig, Jwhich said, “The city Physician, Dr. Gunmen and gamblers, rough people of every sort…” Vaccinations were a large part of the job. It was the frontier, the jumping off place. How that was monitored is a mystery as The rise and fall of disease in Illinois described Quincy as a “… stormy, seething mob. Occasionally there would be an ordinance prohibiting sick people from entering the city as there was in 1849. In theory, he was to work on sanitation, disease prevention, care of the poor, and screening of new arrivals for diseases. Very little was ever reported about what the city physicians actually did. Occasionally more than one physician was nominated for the position and in 1854, it took three ballots for Dr. Rood was elected in 1852 and in 1853, his salary was $150 per year. The Quincy papers continued to report the yearly election of the city physician by the city council. Unfortunately, that process did not stop Cholera and the disease lingered four months resulting in the deaths of 286 citizens. After “… examination, and purification, as their condition and the exigencies of the case may require, …” they were given a certificate which allowed them into the city. A committee was appointed to find a place for the passengers. The city council passed an ordinance that all passengers had to be examined by the city physician before allowed into the city. Also in 1849, Cholera returned to Quincy, thought to have come from immigrants or disembarking passengers on the riverboats. But by this date decided that the citizens should go to the city physician for the inoculation to prevent the disease saying, “… it is advisable that the immediate benefits of this popular preventive be secured.” By then, two people had died and three other cases were known.
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The paper had been informed previously but was not sure of the veracity of the report so said nothing. A small article in the February 15, 1849, Quincy Herald mentioned small pox. The physician was hired by the city council and was to care for the poor, while looking out for the health and sanitation of the community. Historically, the term city physician comes from the middle ages in Germany. Louis Watson was elected to the position by the city council in April.
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The earliest newspaper reference to a city physician was in 1847 when Dr. Around 1200 riverboats were on the Mississippi by the 1830s with thousands more to come. As a river town, people arrived with every riverboat. As the community began to grow, the city council decided they needed a city physician to care for the newcomers and the indigent. Rogers, helped Quincy survive the Cholera epidemic in 1833. Various other physicians came and went in what was known as Bluffs, renamed Quincy in 1825. At that time, there were less than 100 settlers in a range of 30 miles. Baker was the first doctor to arrive in the Quincy area 1824.