Cleave’s
Biographical Cyclopædia of
Homœopathic Physicians and Surgeons
By Egbert Cleave
Presented by Sylvain Cazalet
ENTWORTH,
WALTER H., M. D., of Pittsfield, Mass., was born in Stockbridge,
Berkshire county, Mass., March 11th, 1841. He received a full academic
course of education, at the academy of his native town, during which he
exhibited his personal appreciation of the value of his time as a
student. From early life, he had an intense desire to enter the United
States Military Academy, but yielded to the wishes of his father, to
study medicine, hoping that an opportunity might present itself in after
years, to enter the army or navy, as a staff officer, if he should then
desire to do so.Immediately after the
close of his academic course, he placed himself under the instructions
of a private tutor, eminent for his scholarly qualifications, that his
preparation for his medical studies might be complete. In 1858, he
commenced the study of medicine with Dr. W. H. Barnes, a homœopathic
practitioner of most excellent reputation at Chatham, N. Y., and with
whom he made full preparation for his collegiate course.He matriculated at the
New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, and from which he
graduated, March 11th, 1863.Directly after his
graduation, he received an appointment by the United States Government,
as Assistant Surgeon in the Navy Department, and was immediately ordered
to New Orleans, but before he reached there, in obedience to orders, the
vessel, to which he had been assigned, was utterly destroyed.A call had already been
made on the navy, by the Army Department, for medical assistance, and
Dr. Wentworth was immediately sent to Baton Rouge, La., where he was
placed in charge of the “Harney House Hospital.” Here he
remained till some time after the fall of Port Hudson, unremittingly
employed in the discharge of the duties of his position, and from which
he reaped the advantage of a desirable experience. The remainder of his
time spent in the service, was chiefly in hospital treatment. He
received his honorable discharge in the latter part of the year 1865. He
immediately commenced the practice of homœopathy, in Lenox, Mass.,
where he remained but a brief time ; for in the spring of 1866, he
was called to occupy the field made vacant by the death of Dr. Gifford,
in the adjoining town of Lee. Here he stayed two years in the enjoyment
of a good practice and excellent success, but at the expiration of this
time, in the fulfilment of his desire for a wider field, and an
increased usefulness in his profession, he removed to Pittsfield, Mass.,
where he has found ample employment for his widely acknowledged and
appreciated skill, and where, as a member of the American Institute of
Homœopathy, a staunch advocate, and an efficient practitioner of its
doctrines and principles, he has earned and possesses not only the honor
and confidence of his patrons, but the high esteem of the profession.Dr. Wentworth commenced
his medical studies with the intention of becoming a homœopathic
physician, but soon as his studies were completed, he gratified his old
desire by entering the service. At the close of the war he retired from
it. His acquaintance with superior officers, more than aught else,
secured him his appointment on the hospital staff.Source
: Cleave’s Biographical Cyclopædia of Homœopathic Physicians and
Surgeons By Egbert Cleave