St. John W. Mintzer papers

This extensive collection of the papers of St.John Watkins Mintzer documents the life and career of a 19th century physician, soldier, and businessman. Although the bulk of the papers concern his administration of Civil War hospitals, the collection also contains information about the operation of Philadelphia's eclectic medical schools, the work of the Freedmen's Bureau in Texas and Mississippi, and some unusual business ventures of the day.

Materials preserved in Series 1 concern Mintzer's family and personal life, his medical education, and his personal correspondence (1849-1912). In addition to some family correspondence, this series also contains Mintzer's passport, marriage certificate, and diplomas, biographical information, and information on his wife and two children. One curious item in the personal correspondence is a letter, dated 28 May, 1849, from a Richmond firm, Pulliam and Sloan, listing prices for slaves. The collection of personal correspondence also contains a letter, dated 12 August 1863, from William Craig to Mintzer giving a detailed description of the action and casualties of the 26th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, during the Battle of Gettysburg (1-3 July, 1863). Philadelphia physicians are represented in the collection by a small but notable folder of letters, 1894-1895, from David Denison Stewart, a Fellow of the College of Physicians, concerning Mintzer's health and final illness. Included are an assessment of Mintzer's health by W.W. Keen, whom Stewart apparently consulted, and letters describing Stewart's views on abortion. Mintzer's correspondence also contains one undated letter from Constantin Hering.

Series 2 gives information about Mintzer's brief tenures at the Eclectic Medical College of Pennsylvania and Penn Medical College. There is a small collection of letters, 1853-1855, from John Fondey, whose faculty appointment at the Eclectic College Mintzer seems to have promoted. Mintzer's stormy relationship with Penn Medical College is documented through his correspondence, 1853-1854, with Abraham Livezey, Dean of the Faculty. This series also contains admission cards to Mintzer's lectures at the two schools.

Information about the incorporation and objectives of the proposed American Medical Museum of Philadelphia is preserved in Series 3. Mintzer was very active in promoting this project and seems to have campaigned tirelessly for its incorporation.

The bulk of the Mintzer Papers is contained in Series 4 which documents Mintzer's activities during the Civil War. Series 4.1 is a fine collection of letters, 1860-1863, Mintzer wrote to his friend and business associate, Thomas E. Vinduzer in Philadelphia. Most of these letters were written while Mintzer was with the 26th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, in Virginia or in charge of the U.S.A. General Hospital at McMinnville, Tennessee. These letters not only give a fine account of Mintzer and his experiences but also describe daily camp life and give some information about Mintzer's false teeth business venture. One letter, dated 8 May, 1863, gives a brief account of the Battle of Chancellorsville (2 May, 1863).

Series 4.2 is an extensive collection of correspondence, official orders, reports, and documents for the requisitioning and receipt of medical and hospital supplies from Mintzer during his term as Surgeon with the 26th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers (1861-1863). These documents give a detailed, statistical view of daily medical administration of a Civil War company. One notable item is Mintzer's 5 July 1862 extensive report to the Surgeon General concerning camp life and experiences.

Similar materials are preserved in Series 4.3 through 4.6; each series deals with a different phase of Mintzer's military career and his administration of the U.S.A. General Hospitals at McMinnville, Tennessee (1863-1864), Beverly, New Jersey (1864), South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1864-1865), and York, Pennsylvania (18641865). The McMinnville hospital papers include an interesting account of the unconditional surrender of the hospital to the Confederate forces on 3 October, 1863. The collections of administrative materials from the Beverly and South Street hospitals are very small since Mintzer was in charge of those facilities for only brief periods. The collection of documents from the hospital at York are, however, very extensive. In addition to conveying hospital and stores supply information, these papers also contain information about laundresses employed by the hospital, detailed ward measurements and a ground plan of the hospital complex, and even an 1865 issue of the camp newspaper, "The Cartridge Box". Included in Series 4.6 is an 1864 edition of the U.S. War Department's printed regulations for filing returns of ordnance and ordnance stores; this item explains the nature and purpose of many of the reports and official documents preserved in Series 4. Several photographs of the York hospital are preserved in Series 11.

Mintzer's experiences after the war with the U.S. War Department's Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands are documented in Series 5 (1865-1870). The Bureau was created to administer lands, arbitrate disputes, and assure the rights of the freedmen. Series 5 describes conditions in Texas after the Civil War through correspondence and Mintzer's reports on the general health of the freedmen. Some financial correspondence, concerning Mintzer's private interests and investments in Texas, is included. The situation of the freedmen in the Vicksburg, Mississippi, area in 1867 is also described. An extensive collections of photographs of the Vicksburg area, including images of the estate of Joseph Emory Davis, eldest brother of Jefferson Davis and accounted one of the wealthiest men in the South, is preserved in Series 11.

Series 6 documents the various business and financial ventures with which Mintzer was involved during his life. There are a few items relating to his false teeth business with Thomas E. Vinduzer and also a small collection of correspondence and related materials, 18721877, concerning the production of the Sluthour Pump and the Oscillating Pump Company, formed by Mintzer to market the invention. Other business ventures, including Mintzer's brief experience as Acting Superintendent of the American Department at the 1873 Universal Exposition in Vienna and his investment in the Automatic Overseaming Buttonhole Machine Company in the 1880s, are described through correspondence and other materials.

Series 7 through 9 are quite small collections of documents. Series 7 contains Mintzer's application materials for a position on the Board of Examining Surgeons of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Pension Bureau in 1893. Series 8 is comprised of some miscellaneous legal subpoenas and summonses, 1863-1871. Property records relating to Mintzer's home, "China Hall", in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, are preserved in Series 9.

Mintzer's activities and involvement in various non professional organizations, such as the Welsh Society and the Franklin Institute, are documented in Series 10 (1855-1893). There is very little material in this series other than certificates of membership, some printed materials, and occasional items of correspondence.

The Mintzer Papers also contain a fine, small collection of photographs, mostly mounted albumen prints or tintypes, in Series 11. Aside from images of Mintzer himself, most of the photographs of individuals are not identified. The collection does, however, contain three photographs of the U.S.A. General Hospital at York, Pennsylvania, from Mintzer's time there as well as twenty three views of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and its environs, probably dating from 1867, the time of Mintzer's work in that area for the Freedmen's Bureau.

Some miscellaneous printed items, 1851-1885, and a large collection of calling cards and invitations, probably relics of Mintzer's European trips in 1867 and 1873, are preserved in Series 12.