MUNSEY, BARTON – Biographies – History of Homeopathy

UNSEY, BARTON, M. D., of St. Louis, Mo., was born in Guilford, N. H., March 10th, 1812. His father, Dr.
George W. Munsey, was an able physician of the old school of medicine, who practiced for more than fifty years. His early education was received in the
district school, attendance upon which was alternated with work upon the farm. In his eighteenth year he removed to Deerfield, N. H., where, having
learned the business of clock making, he returned to Guilford to commence the business for himself, and devoted his leisure hours to the study of
medicine and anatomy. Transferring his business to Manchester, he there formed the acquaintance of Dr. Atwood, who initiated him into the advantages of
homœopathy, and under whose direction he prepared for attendance upon medical lectures. In 1846, he went to Harvard University, where, and at McLane
Hospital, he attended a medical course. The following year he applied in New York for admission to lectures, but was informed by Dr. Mott that he
“could not graduate with homœopathic notions.” Leaving New York, he sailed for South America, where, receiving license to practice medicine
in Curacoa, he introduced homœopathy. He did not remain long, and returning to the United States, he located in Wilmington, N. C., where he engaged in
the practice of dentistry, and was employed as an assistant to Dr. Ware. His predilections for a profession asserting itself, he commenced the practice
of homœopathy. Learning that a college of homœopathy was to open in Philadelphia, he left Wilmington, and arrived in Philadelphia on the day of the
opening. Under the auspices of Dr. Williamson, whose office he entered, he attended lectures and graduated in 1850. Returning to Wilmington, he entered
upon his work with renewed energy ; but not satisfied that his acquaintance with medicine was equal to the demands upon his services or to his
conscientiousness, he again went to Philadelphia, and spent several years in attendance upon lectures both at the Homœopathic College and at the
University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1857. He received diplomas from the Williamsonian and Hahnemannian Institutions of Medicine, and from Charles
J. Hempel, M. D., of the Homœopathic Dispensary. This last was granted at a special meeting of the faculty, for “services, ability, success, and
conscientious devotion to duty.” In 1852, with Dr. W. H. Gardner, he published the first “American Homœopathic Practice,” he furnishing
the first copy and the money. In this enterprise he lost about twelve hundred dollars. He assisted also in the publication of Dr. Caspari’s
“Homœopathic Domestic Physician.” At the breaking out of the rebellion, while resident in North Carolina, he was among the first to offer his
services as surgeon, and being known as loyal to the Union, he was sent from North Carolina to the West Indies, and from there sent to New York. He
proffered his gratuitous services to the 12th Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers at the time of their organization, and was accepted. He attended the
regiment, and received uniform courtesy from the officers and men ; but the medical staff regarded him with suspicion and ordered him to leave. In
this jealousy was the predominant motive, as the soldiers gave the preference to the homœopathic practice. Returning to New Hampshire, he formed the
acquaintance of Miss Mary E. Weeks, to whom he was married December 12th, 1864, and in the following year removed to Virden, Ills. Here his wife became
interested in the study of medicine, and, yielding to her wishes, he removed to St. Louis, where, attending lectures, she graduated in 1871, and
received from the Dean, Dr. John F. Temple, a silver medal as a tribute to her proficiency in Materia Medica. Her career, so full with promise of
usefulness, was early closed by death-her decease occurring on November 17th, 1872. She was exemplary in all her relations, and possessed talents which
admirably fitted her to become a shining light in homœopathy. Since her death he has devoted himself with renewed energy to his practice. He is highly
respected in his home, where he is well known, both in his profession and as a citizen. He is a member of the American Institute of Homœopathy and of
several other societies.

Source : Cleave’s Biographical Cyclopædia of Homœopathic Physicians and Surgeons By
Egbert Cleave