We can all be happy that medicine has advanced from pioneer days! In many instances doctors did not have degrees, but just obtained their medical education by going along with an older physician and assisting him in his practice. When he felt confident to strike out for himself, he many times picked a newly settled community to "get in on the ground floor."
This was not always the case, as many doctors were graduates of medical schools and either way, the labors were the same. Their practice usually covered a large territory, they had to be ready to answer calls day and night, and their means of transportation were pretty rustic. This meant a trusty horse was the way to go.
There were no drugstores to fill prescriptions, so the pioneer doctor carried a large stock of medicines in a "pill bag" or so-called "black bag." What was found in it was a goodly supply of English calomel, some aloes and Dover's powder, opium in some form or another, sweet spirits of nitre, Spanish fly for "drawing blisters" and some Peruvian bark (sulphate of quinine.) Blood letting was considered of first importance so the doctor carried one or more lancets, to be ready for any emergency. Such was the equipment in the mid 1800s, and the wonder is not that he saved so many patients, but that he saved any at all!
From this point on, progress was "slow but sure." Germ theory was developed by scientists such as Lister and Pasteur. Ether was first used as an anesthetic in 1846 and chloroform was used for the same purpose in 1847. Later came serums, antitoxins, antiseptics and the Roentgen ray (x-ray), which was discovered in 1895.
Fast forward now, to one of Camden's most popular doctors in the 1900s-Dr. Richard R. Cranmer, M.D. He was born in Beardsly, Minnesota., February 14, 1887. His father was George C. Cranmer from New Jersey and his mother was Francis Kelsey of Anoka. In 1905 Richard graduated from high school in Ortonville, Minnesota., spent two years at Hamline College, then entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1909, was an intern at St. Mary's in Minneapolis and opened an office in the city. In 1913 he went abroad for further study. When WWI broke out he returned home, but in 1917 enlisted for service and was on a surgical staff at Camp Hospital #15 in Paris, France.
In 1919 Dr. Cranmer returned to Minneapolis, conducting his practice at the Camden Park Hospital, a private institution for the treatment of surgical cases. He was also the local surgeon for the Northern Pacific Railroad, on the surgical staff of Minneapolis General Hospital, Hopewell Tubercular Hospital in Camden, St. Barnabas and Asbury Hospitals.
On December 20, 1921 he married Miss Mildred Wheeler of Fargo, North Dakota and their home was at 4263 Webber Parkway in Camden, which was right across the street from his hospital on Bryant and Webber Parkway.
During his practice, Dr. Cranmer was fortunate to see many of the major advances in medicine. These included inoculations, vaccinations, sulfa drugs, penicillin and related antibiotics, x-ray, EKG, improved sterilization of equipment and improved anesthesias.
This doctor, through his identification with the Minnesota State Medical Societies and the A.M.A., kept up with the advancement of medicine in his day, and provided some of the very best care to be had. Although surgery was his specialty, he was also known as "Camden's baby doctor," delivering a good share of the babies in town.
To most of the people who were his patients, Dr. Cranmer was the one who removed their tonsils or appendix, delivered their babies and was the good "family doctor" who made house calls. They may have been surprised to find out that their good family doctor, while overseas during WWI, had been commissioned a captain, was decorated by the French government with the Order of the Universal Palms and was named an Officer of the Academy. He was awarded a medal for his valiant service.
Dr. Cranmer passed away Sept. 18, 1977 at 90 years of age, a short time after Cat-scans and MRIs came in to being.
References: Minnesota and Its People-Vol. 2 and History of Mpls.-Gateway to the Northwest-S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.-1923, and research by Judith Thomas Halvorson, master genealogist. Photography by Jeanne Meyer Edberg.