University of Maryland Baltimore Dental School - Mirror Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

Page 18 text:

chemistry. ATay it bo hoped that the students derived more benefit from the experimental demonstrations tlian from the lectures, still delivei-ed with an accent utterly unintelligible to the hearers. However, the begfinning was made and, indeed, an appointment to a full professorship in the Maryland Collegfe of Pharmacy followed next year, necessitatingf, for want of time, the resignation at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, until some years later the Doctor resumed his duties at this rapidly growing institution, accepting later the chair of chemistry in the P altimore College of Dental Surgery. Dr. Latimer. Dr. Latimer was born, 1839, in Georgia, but upon the death of his father, the family removed, while he was yet a child, to Southern Pennsylvania. He attended public and private schools and enjoyed the advantages of havmg a private tutor. He matriculated at the University of Maryland Medical School in 1859, graduating in 1861. At the outbreak of the Civil War Dr. Latimer espoused the cause of the South, and enlisted April ig as a private in the First Regiment of Md. C. S. A., and went South early in May. After about eight months ' service in the ranks, he was appointed Adjutant Surgeon to the Regiment. Li the spring of 1862, he was made Assistant Medical Purveyor of the Army of Northern Virginia, which position he held until after the battle of Gettysburg. Soon after having had his rank advanced to that of Major Surgeon, he was put in charge of the Robinson Hospital and Confederate States Dispensary, in Richmond. After the fall of Rich- mond he was on his way to join the division of Gen. Jos. E. Johnson, but at Charlotte, N. C, receiving the news of the surrender, returned to Richmond. After a few ' months spent in the Spanish West Indies he came back to irginia, where he spent the winter of 1865-66. Coming to Baltimore in the spring of 1866 with the intention of going to Mexico, he was deterred by a letter from General Early, who advised e.x-Confederates to stay at home. The same year, receiving the appointment of Resident Physician to the University Hospital, he remained with the institution tw ' o years, resigning to begin private practice in which he has received recognition as one of the most skilful physicians in the city, holding a high place among his colleagues, and a large and lucrative practice. Dr. Latimer has also held for many years and is still professor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, and during the existence of the Post Graduate Medical College, held a professorship in that. He has served as President and Vice-President of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty, and President of the Baltimore Medical Association. Of the writings of Dr. Latimer, the chief is, Anatomy and Physiology of

Page 17 text:

and Latin dcclarcrl tlic boy 1o be a dunce ami a nuisance, wliile those of natural history and mathematics claimed him most emphatically to be a wondrous briji-ht boy. Next he was placed in a drug store to pass an apprenticeship, full of hardships and of several courtships. These ships having ' finally all been passed successfully, studies were commenced at that little University of Giessen, made famous by having established under the leadership of the immortal Justus von Liebifj the first chemical laboratory in the wide, wide world for |)ul)lic instruction in elementary afifinity and atomic linkage. Having imbibed freely of his Ahna Mater x fountain of wisdom, and enough of the German student ' s national beverage, he was found worthy of the honor to add henceforth a I ' h.D. to his name. While ne.xt engaged as assistant and lecturer at the University, sound waves of the war-trumpet penetrated to the young doctor ' s ears and called him to the field of action, where he had an opportunity to assist in demonstrating to Napoleon III. that he was not permitted to change the geographical map of Europe, as his uncle had been fond of doing. The doctor next accepted an offer, made to him by the Baltimore Chrome Works, to cross the big pond, act as their chemical adviser and demonstrate what German science and German thoroughness would accom- plish wdien harnessed alongside of American skill and American ingenuity. This step he has never regretted, as he found in this young and rapidly developing country a wide and remunerative field for his labors. At that time (1871) there existed as yet not a single chemical laboratory for educational purposes in all Baltimore, and by request of some medical students the young chemist from the other side fitted up a modest place, where he gave practical instruction in chemical operations, and thus laid the foundation for his life-work, . c. teaching. How he ever succeeded in those early days to impart any knowledge to his classes is rather a mystery, because the difficulties of the English language offered an immense obstacle to an intelligent intercourse of thought between teacher and student. However may the pupils have been attracted by the fun of the thing, or by other causes, the fact is recorded that quite a number of the most prominent physicians and pliarmacists attended these first lessons in practical chemistry. Indeed, so successful was this private course that the Maryland College of Pharmacy created the chair of analytical chemistry, which was offered to and gladly accepted by the Doctor. In the following year the College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded and for one session the Doctor delivered the lectures on II

Page 19 text:

Harris ' L ' rincii)les and rraclicc (if Dentistry. His chapter on CJcreljro-Spinal Meningitis is a well-written |)art in T.ooniis ' lV ' xt-l!ook on iVledicine, and liis many nionoj raplis are papers of recognizerl merit. B. Roily Smith. B. Holly Smith was graduated from the lialtimore Colleye of iJenlal Surfjery in i88r, anci made Assistant Demonstrator of Operative Dentistry Ihe following ' session. He was next appointed Lecturer on Special Anatomy and Dental Materia Medica, later Professor of this chair, and is now Professor of Operative Dentistry and Dental Surgery. He was graduated from the College of Physicians and .Surgeons in 1883, and is now Professor of Operative Dentistry and Dental Surgery as applied to medicine in that institution. He was formerly President of the Maryland State Dental Association and is now Chairman of its Executive Committee. He was at one time President of the Southern Dental Association, also of the National Dental Association; now a member of its Executive Council. He is now President of the National Association of Dental Faculties, of whose Executive Committee he was for some time the Secretary. He is an honorary member of the Washington City Dental Association, New Jersey State Society, North Carolina State Association, Texas State Association, Associate Member of the New York Academy of Stomatology, and New York Odontological Society, and also a member of the Baltimore County Medical Association. Dr. CdtUiam B. f inncy. Dr. William B. Finney, Professor of Dental Mechanism and Metallurgy at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, is one of the foremost dentists of Baltimore. He was born in Accomac County, ' a., August 27, 1854, on the plantation of his father, the late Andrew Gordon Finney. He pursued his studies at the Academy of Locustville, Va., and at William and Mary College. Coming to Baltimore, he acted as bookkeeper for the firm of T. C. Bunting Co., and later entered the ofifice of Dr. R. B. Winder as a private student, concurrently beginning his studies at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. About this time the Maryland Dental College was organized and Dr. ' inder was made its Dean. Here Mr. Finney took his second year course and graduated, being yet under twenty-one years of age. After graduation, he returned to his home, remaining there one year. He then went to Moorefield, Hardy County, W. a., where he practiced three years. 13