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Collection
Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection
Title
Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection
Object ID
MG0128
Date Range
1828-1851
Blood Botany, Medical Brain Burns and scalds Cerebrovascular disease Chyle Cleft lip Cold (Disease) Communicable diseases Depression Diagnosis Digestion Diseases Edema Electricity Epilepsy Finding aids Gangrene Hemophilia Hernia Inflammation Jaundice Joints--Diseases Lancaster Society of Literature
  1 document  
Collection
Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection
Title
Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection
Description
The Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection contains medical lectures, mostly given by Dr. Kerfoot. Topics include surgery, epilepsy, colds, injuries of the head, digestion, the senses, phrenology, and morality and science.
Admin/Biographical History
"Dr. George Barrett Kerfoot, M.D., returned to Lancaster to establish a practice in medicine in the Spring of 1830 after graduating from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. That year he also married Elizabeth B. Reed.
From 1830 to 1843, Dr. Kerfoot expressed strong sympathy in lectures for such pseudo sciences as phrenology & Mesmerism, also promoting lectures and courses at his Anatomical Hall. Dr. Kerfoot opened a drug store and placed advertisements for the patent medicines which he sold there. In 1838, Kerfoot conducted a much publicized, sensational electrotherapy experiment on the body of Henry Kobler, a convicted killer, hanged for the murder of Lazarus Zellerbach. An April 1843 newspaper advertisement stated that Dr. Kerfoot was ending his drug and patent medicine business in order to concentrate on "the practice of medicine, surgery and obstetrics." Three weeks after the April 1843 advertisement, Eliza opened a millinery shop, with "Spring fashions" and a "supply of bonnets."
In 1843 the Kerfoot family resided on Center Square next to the Lancaster Bank. George was then aged 35; Eliza (Reed) Kerfoot, 36; children: Ann Louisa Kerfoot, 12; George Kerfoot, Jr., 9; William Dale Kerfoot, 6; Eliza Reed Kerfoot, 4; Emma Kerfoot, 2; and the family's live-in servants. In 1847 a daughter Sweetie H. Kerfoot was born and in 1848 their daughter Emma Kerfoot died.
In the 1840's Dr. Kerfoot served on the City Council, as a Democrat, and on the School Board. Dr. Kerfoot provided expert testimony in Lancaster criminal court in the 1847 Haggerty trial in which the insanity defense was used, and also in the 1851 Knepley trial at Harrisburg.
Dr. Kerfoot was a recording secretary for the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and charter member of the Lancaster City & County Medical Society. He was a Mason and became District Deputy Grand Master; was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and a promoter of the Lyceum movement; held membership in the Temperance Society; St. James Episcopal Church; allegedly wrote some for The Lancaster Intelligencer. Dr. Kerfoot practiced medicine until his death in 1851.
>Most of this information, quoted verbatim or paraphrased, is from: "Competing in the Medical Marketplace in Jacksonian America: The Creative Strategy of Dr. George Barrett Kerfoot," by Thomas R. Winpenny. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/106207258/george-barrett-kerfoot
Date Range
1828-1851
Year Range From
1828
Year Range To
1851
Date of Accumulation
1828-1851
Creator
Kerfoot, George Barrett, 1808-1851
Storage Location
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA
Storage Room
Archives South
Storage Wall
Side 04
People
Kerfoot, George Barrett
McClellan, George
Gibson, William
Spurzheim, Johann Gaspar
Gall, Franz Josef
Subjects
Anatomy
Blood
Botany, Medical
Brain
Burns and scalds
Cerebrovascular disease
Chyle
Cleft lip
Cold (Disease)
Communicable diseases
Depression, Mental
Diagnosis
Digestion
Diseases
Edema
Electricity
Epilepsy
Gangrene
Hemophilia
Hernia
Inflammation
Jaundice
Joints--Diseases
Lancaster Society of Literature & Science
Larynx--Surgery
Lectures
Lyceums
Lymphatics--Diseases
Magnetism
Neuroses
Paralysis
Philosophy
Phrenology
Physiology
Pregnancy
Prognosis
Respiration
Scrofula
Senses and sensation
Surgery
Tetanus
Tonsils
Tumors
Vomiting
Wounds and injuries--Treatment
Search Terms
Anatomy
Apoplexy
Blood
Botany, Medical
Brains
Burns and scalds
Chyle
Cleft lip
Cold (Disease)
Communicable diseases
Depression, Mental
Diagnosis
Digestion
Diseases
Dropsy
Electricity
Epilepsy
Finding aids
Gangrene
Hemophilia
Hernia
Inflammation
Jaundice
Joints, Diseases
Lancaster Society of Literature & Science
Larynx
Lectures
Lyceums
Magnetism
Manuscript groups
Neuroses
Paralysis
Philosophy
Phrenology
Physics
Physiology
Pregnancy
Respiration
Scrofula
Senses and sensation
Surgery
Tetanus
Tonsils
Tumors
Vomiting
Wounds and injuries
Extent
1 box, 12 folders, .25 cubic ft.
Object Name
Archive
Language
English
Object ID
MG0128
Location of Originals
LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Notes
Preferred Citation: Dr. George B. Kerfoot Collection (MG0128), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-128
Classification
MG0128
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
This collection was cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database 30 July 2021.
Documents
Less detail