Cleave’s
Biographical Cyclopædia of
Homœopathic Physicians and Surgeons
By Egbert Cleave
Presented by Sylvain Cazalet
HITE,
WILLIAM, M. D., of New York city, was born at Otley, in the county
of Yorkshire, England, January 14th, 1815.His parents were
honorable and respectable people in comfortable circumstances. He
received in early youth but a limited education, and assisted his father
for a while in his business ; but afterwards learned the trade of
wool sorter. Previous to this, however, and during his apprenticeship to
trade, his mind became strongly imbued with a love of anatomy and
physiology, which sciences occupied his mind so completely that all his
spare moments and all his spare cash were invariably employed in laying
the foundation of a medical education.About the year 1841,
he, with his family, emigrated to the United States, settling in
Philadelphia, where his father entered into business. He himself still
continued his old occupation, as a means of farther prosecuting his
medical studies. By this time, having convinced himself that allopathy
was not the best or most perfect system, he turned his attention to
medical hydropathy, which he studied and put into practice. Disappointed
with it, he determined to test the merits of homœopathy. After careful
and thorough investigation, by study and practical experiment, he became
fully satisfied of its superior merits and usefulness over the two
previous systems which he had essayed. He went through a thorough course
of homœopathic studies, fully qualifying himself to practice that
system of treatment. Having removed to Battle Creek, Mich., he found
there an excellent field for his operations, as the fevers, so prevalent
in that region, afforded superior opportunities for practically testing
the advantages to be derived from the application of Hahnemann’s system
of treatment. He now attended lectures at the Cleveland Homœopathic
College, where he look his degree, in 1864.He had given special
attention to the study of phrenology, mesmerism, and electromagnetism.
Entirely devoid of the bigotry of creed or dogma, he realized, with a
liberal and broad comprehensiveness, the benefits to be derived from a
combination of the various schools or methods, which has resulted in a
record of cases of extraordinary cures of spinal curvature, rheumatism,
paralysis, neuralgia, skin diseases, and many others. Not content with
the above mentioned scientific acquirements, he also attended four
courses of lectures on electricity, which made him so thoroughly
cognizant of its value as a remedial agent, that he commenced delivering
lectures on the subject. He is also the author of a valuable and
explicit work on this science, entitled, “The Student’s Manual of
Medical Electricity,” which proved highly successful, having a
large sale and reaching a second edition, which was considerably
enlarged and improved. He also lectured on electrical therapeutics at
the Female Medical College, in 1871. He has met with the approbation of
many leading members of the homœopathic profession and their patronage
in peculiar cases, requiring the application of his specialty.After remaining at
Battle Creek for six years, he returned to Philadelphia, in which city
family circumstances compelled him to remain for a time, and where he
entered on the practice of medical electricity with great success. In
1869, he removed to New York city, where he established a similar
practice of homœopathy and electricity combined, which he carried on
with marked success. Whilst in the latter city, he lectured on
electrical therapeutics to the Women’s Medical College of New York, and,
in 1872, he accepted the chair of Electrical Therapeutics in the New
York Free Medical College for Women, an institution so largely indebted
to himself and his talented wife, Mrs. Dr. Sarah Jane White, for its
foundation and success. This was the first professorship of the kind
ever established in this or any other country.He was married the
first time in 1836, to Mary Ann Gill, of England, by which union he had
six children, three of whom are still living. His second marriage took
place in 1869, with Mrs. Sarah J. Carpenter, of Massachusetts, daughter
of J. R. Smith, of Whately, in that State, who, previous to his
acquaintance with her, had already commenced the study of medicine,
which she has since followed up with eminent success.His success in life has
been uniform, and his progress in his career steady and constant.Source
: Cleave’s Biographical Cyclopædia of Homœopathic Physicians and
Surgeons By Egbert Cleave