Years ago, before our time, a young doctor finished his studies in Canada and crossed the border into Minnesota. He was one of the first doctors to practice medicine in Minneapolis, when it wasn’t even Minneapolis yet, but was called St. Anthony Falls. It was named thus by Father Hennepin after his Patron Saint. The name of this new arrival was Dr. Louis Bistodeau, and he was born in the village of St. Ours, Quebec, Canada, April 2, 1822. His baptismal name was Jean Louis Joseph Antome Bistodeau, one of 12 children of Jean Baptiste Bistodeau and Marie Therese Naflette. Louis attended St. Hyacinthe College in Quebec for four years until October 1841. He received an authorization from the Bureau of Medicine in Quebec in 1843 to enter the School of Medical Arts, and continued his studies until 1848. In 1851 he lived in Perce, and then Gaspe in Canada and started his practice there.
All of his siblings were born in Quebec and he also married there. His wedding to Sarah Emelina Brule on May 30, 1854 was at St. Maurice Catholic Church, Champlain, Quebec, Canada. Shortly after marriage the doctor and his wife traveled from Trois Rivers, Quebec to the little village of St. Anthony, arriving on July 8, 1854. Dr. Bistodeau not only lived and practiced medicine in St. Anthony, but their first child, Louis Alexander was born there. Through the grapevine he heard that the people in Dayton Township had no doctor and needed one badly, so he was asked to come and help them. Being that there was no regular transportation in those days, Dr. Bistodeau either walked or rode an Indian pony from St. Anthony to Dayton to care for the sick. It wasn’t too long before the Dayton townspeople presented him with a horse and carriage.
Some time later, Dr. Bistodeau moved his wife and son to Dayton to avoid the long trip and be closer to his patients. There was not much money in those days, so sometimes the doctor accepted vegetables, eggs or whatever they had for his fee. He delivered many babies and cared for the sick and injured throughout his life, besides raising a huge family and having a reputation for being a wonderful father.
Not only was he the first doctor in Dayton, but he was the only physician practicing there for 37 years. He was 70 in 1892 when he retired, and 80 years old when he died in 1902.
Fourteen out of 15 of his children were born in Dayton, so as the only doctor, he had to deliver all his own children and probably all of his 94 grandchildren. Looking through his records, my eyes blurred over when I counted 544 great-grandchildren! It is mind boggling to think of how many offspring of his line are living in Dayton, Minneapolis and points in between at this time!
Louis Bistodeau was my husband’s great uncle, my husband’s line coming from Louis’ younger brother, Henry, who followed him to Minnesota in 1864, 10 years after his brother.
Back in 1942, I was taken on a trip to Dayton by my future in-laws. The first thing they showed me was the office where Dr. Bistodeau had practiced. His shingle (name-plate) had never been removed from his old office building, as it was an historical landmark. It was left by the people of Dayton to honor their first doctor!
If you were to visit the Minnesota Historical Society, you would find on display Dr. Bistodeau’s black doctor’s bag that he used for many years. Also on display is a quilt his wife Emelina and five other women made during the Civil War.
Note: Thanks to Wm. Harrison for his fine reproductions of the pictures I have used in my articles. If you would care to write me, email wharrison5@cox.net.