Genesee County Museum - Physician's Office
The Physician's Office, built c. 1840. This structure came to the Genesee Country Museum from South Valley, NY and is now located in their Antebellum Village section. Now a little bit of history: In the early years of a settlement, there were no doctors, but as hamlets and villages grew, the doctor became, after the minister, the community's most prominent person. From the earliest days there was work for what few physician's there were in the Genesee country. They went about setting fractured limbs, stitching up slashes and cuts, mending broken heads, assisting at difficult confinements, lancing boils and carbuncles and doing what they could for various other complaints. During this time period the folks in the Genesee country became stricken with "ague" (raging high temperatures and chills) which was called the "Genesee Fever". However, there was little that any doctor could do to help the settlers that were stricken with this, since little was known about its cause. Early travelers through the Genrsee country often reported the prevelence of settlers suffering from this deadly fever. Genesee fever (not recognized at the time as a form of malaria) took a toll among the pioneers. It came to be correctly associated with low lying watery areas, but for the wrong reason. The fever was supposed to come from decaying vegetation in such locations; in fact, like other forms of malaria, it wa transmitted by mosquitoes. The Genesee Country Village & Museum is located at 1410 Flint Hill Road (George Street) in Mumford, NY.
Genesee County Museum - Physician's Office
The Physician's Office, built c. 1840. This structure came to the Genesee Country Museum from South Valley, NY and is now located in their Antebellum Village section. Now a little bit of history: In the early years of a settlement, there were no doctors, but as hamlets and villages grew, the doctor became, after the minister, the community's most prominent person. From the earliest days there was work for what few physician's there were in the Genesee country. They went about setting fractured limbs, stitching up slashes and cuts, mending broken heads, assisting at difficult confinements, lancing boils and carbuncles and doing what they could for various other complaints. During this time period the folks in the Genesee country became stricken with "ague" (raging high temperatures and chills) which was called the "Genesee Fever". However, there was little that any doctor could do to help the settlers that were stricken with this, since little was known about its cause. Early travelers through the Genrsee country often reported the prevelence of settlers suffering from this deadly fever. Genesee fever (not recognized at the time as a form of malaria) took a toll among the pioneers. It came to be correctly associated with low lying watery areas, but for the wrong reason. The fever was supposed to come from decaying vegetation in such locations; in fact, like other forms of malaria, it wa transmitted by mosquitoes. The Genesee Country Village & Museum is located at 1410 Flint Hill Road (George Street) in Mumford, NY.