[or-roots] 1868 "Doctor" Mary Ashbaugh Courtney

[Cecil Houk]

There are two Mary's mentioned in this text.  One is my gr gr grandmother;
the other is her daughter.  William Holbrook was the brother in law of the
elder Mary.



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from
HISTORY OF A PIONEER FAMILY
by Florence (Courtney) Melton

  (1868)
       Somewhere on the the road, while the California group was with us,
there was a family bound for California that had one child, a little boy
seven or eight years old.  He had a pony, and one day it jumped and threw
him off and broke his arm between the wrist and elbow.  They went into camp
right away.  The parents were frantic.  The father asked everyone if there
was a doctor on the train.  No one knew of anyone.  He said he would give
$100 for someone to set his boy's arm.  Uncle William Holbrook told him he
knew of one person, who laid no claim to being a doctor, but she could set
the boy's arm.  At first he was skeptical because it was a woman.  Uncle
brought him around and introduced him to Mother.  She went with him and
examined the arm, then came back to fix a splint.  Mary took some if the
till of her trunk.  Mother padded it, got something for bandages, and went
to work to pull his arm into place.  Of course it hurt.  He screamed but she
kept pulling.  The man ordered her to stop hurting the boy.  He was very
insulting.  Mother just stopped and asked him if he knew how to set it.  She
had plenty to do at her own wagon.  He said no, he didn't know anything
about it.  "Well, just keep still and quit giving orders, if I am to do it."
There was a big crowd standing around.  They didn't blame her, and they said
so.  Uncle laughed and said, "I knew Mary would settle him."  She took care
of the arm until the splints were off.  The arm was as straight as the
other.  The parents never even thanked her.  She never charged for anything
she ever did for sick folks.


As I recall, Mary Ashbaugh Courtney was not my only gr gr grandmother who
provided
medical care on the Oregon Trail.  Mary Kimsey Simpson (who crossed in 1846)
is often
refered to as "Doctor" in several writings I've seen.