Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets

Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets Obit – Dying Surgeon Bars “Humbug” at Funeral

Aurora (Colorado) Democrat, 30 April 1926

Marion, Ohio – Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets, sixty-eight years old, of Mount Gilead, an internationally famous surgeon, made this unusual death-bed request of an old friend, Dr. A. Rhu:

“I’ll have no minister, no priest, no humbug. Cremate my body and scatter the ashes over the graves of my mother and father.”

Doctor Rhu announced that the unusual request would be carried out. The body was taken to Cincinnati for cremation. The ashes will then be taken to Proctorville, Lawrence County, [Ohio] and strewn over the graves of Doctor Rickets’ mother and father.

Doctor Rickets was known worldwide as an authority on heart, lung, and throat surgery. He was born May 20, 1858, at Proctorville, Lawrence County, [Ohio]. He attended Ohio Wesleyan University and took postgraduate medical courses at Miami Medical College, Columbia University, and the Skin and Cancer Hospital in New York City.

DR. BENJAMIN MERRILL RICKETTS, M. D.

SOURCE: Cincinnati, the Queen City, 1788-1912; by Rev. Charles Frederic Goss. 

Dr. Benjamin Merrill Ricketts has practiced in Cincinnati for more than a quarter of a century. For twenty years, he has been at the head of a private surgical hospital where patients who arrive from all parts of the United States are treated.  As a surgeon, author, scientist, investigator, and teacher Dr. Ricketts has for many years been widely recognized not only in America but in countries beyond the seas, and today he ranks with the acknowledged leaders of his profession in the new world.

This responsible position he has attained through years of the most exacting study, by close observation, and through a very extensive practice under the most favorable circumstances for arriving at definite and positive knowledge.

He is a native of Proctorville, Lawrence County, Ohio, born May 20, 1858, a son of Dr. Girard Robinson and Rachel (McLaughlin) Ricketts.  The father was born in Virginia on February 14, 1828, and practiced at Proctorville.

He died on September 20, 1898.  The mother, whose death occurred November 8, 1908, was a native of Ohio, a daughter of David McLaughlin, the son of John, who was the son of James. This emigrant ancestor came to America from Scotland, previous to the Revolutionary War, and assisted in freeing the colonies from England.  Of the four children in the family of Dr. and Mrs. Ricketts, the sons, Edwin, Benjamin M., and Joseph, all became surgeons.  The only daughter, Linnia, is the wife of Gilbert D. Bush of Gallipolis, Ohio.

The Ricketts family is of French Huguenot descent.  John Ricketts, the grandfather of our subject, was born near Front Royal, Virginia, and married Eliza Robinson.  He was the son of Anthony Ricketts, who married Ellen Hand.  Anthony was John’s son, the fourth in descent from William, the Huguenot.  The name of the family was originally Ricard.

William and James Ricard served in the British Navy under Admiral Penn, the grandfather of William Penn. Their ancestors were driven from France after the massacre of St. Bartholomew on August 24, 1572.  They participated in the conquest of Jamaica by the British in 1662.  After the island’s conquest, James was made governor-general, and William came to Cecil County, Maryland, where he established his home.  Many of the Ricketts family are found in England, Wales, and Scotland. All descended from the same parent stock.

Dr. Benjamin M. Ricketts received his preliminary education in the village school of Proctorville.  He entered Ohio Wesleyan University in April 1876 and continued as a student until April 1879, and while there, he became a member of the Agassiz Society.

He belonged to a family of physicians; his father had been a doctor of wide scope, so it was natural that he should study medicine.  He, therefore, matriculated at Miami Medical College on October 1, 1879, from which he graduated with the degree of M. D. on March 10, 1881.

Very soon afterward, he began practice in Ironton, Ohio, and on April 24, 1881, was appointed health officer and city physician of the town.  He also served as superintendent of the Smallpox Hospital and in 1882-93 as coroner of Lawrence County.  One of his first publications was a pamphlet on smallpox, which he issued at Ironton in 1881.  He proved very active and efficient as a practitioner and, from 1881-83, was a valued member of the Lawrence County Medical Society.

In July 1883, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, and was elected as a member of the Central Ohio Medical Society the following September.  Desiring to pursue his studies further, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of Columbia University, New York, in October 1884. He continued in New York City until November 16, 2885, when he established himself permanently in Cincinnati.

While in New York City, he was appointed substitute house surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital in November 1884, house surgeon of the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital on December 1, 1884, and assistant to the Skin Clinic of the New York Polyclinic, with Dr. George T. Jackson, April 12, 1885.

He was made an original New York State Medical Association Fellow on November 20, 1884.  Upon leaving New York City, he resigned from his various positions and, since coming to Cincinnati, has devoted his attention to general surgery.  His many successful operations and his high standing in the medical profession are convincing evidence of his skill.

On Jun 1, 1888, Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets was elected to the chair of minor surgery at Miami Medical College.  He organized the Cincinnati Polyclinic in May 1888, and on December 3, of the same year, was elected professor of dermatology and syphilography in this institution.  On December 3, 1888, he was appointed visiting a dermatologist at the German Deaconess Hospital, and on October 4, 1889, he was named a physician of skin diseases and plastic surgery at Christ Hospital.

His work, however, has not been confined to this city, as he was elected to the chair of the honorary professor of thoracic surgery in the Barnes and American Medical Colleges of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1909 and visits St. Louis monthly to lecture before the students of those institutions.  He is an interesting and instructive speaker, as thousands of students who have greatly profited from his teachings can testify.

Few men have been more energetic and efficient in connection with medical organizations than Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets.  He has been identified with most of the leading medical societies of America and, as an organizer or officer, has materially assisted in developing many of those associations.  He was elected a member of the

• Ohio State Medical Society in June 1882;
• Cincinnati Medical Society, December 10, 1885;
• Cincinnati Society of Natural History, December 15, 1885;
• Cincinnati Photograph Society, in December 1886;
• International Medical Congress of Washington, D. C., September 2, 1887;
• Cincinnati Academy of Medicine, December 15, 1887.

He assisted in organizing the Cincinnati Microscopical and Pathological Society in December 1887 and was made its president.  On June 15, 1888, Dr. Ricketts was elected vice president of the Ohio State Medical Society.

In June 1888, he was elected a member of the American Medical Association. In September following, he was elected to membership in the Mississippi Valley Medical Society, elections to other organizations taking place as follows:

• To membership in the Southwestern Ohio Medical Society, October 9, 1889
• International Railway Surgeons in 1892; the Iowa, Illinois
• Missouri Tri-State Medical Society, in 1896
• A charter member of the Ohio Pediatric Society in 1898
• Member of the Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky Tri-State Medical Society and Western Association of Writers in 1899;
• Charter member of the American Proctologic Society;
• Western Surgical and Gynecological Association, in 1900;
• North Kentucky Medical Society, in 1901;
• Society Internationale Chirurgie of Brussels, in 1902;
• Cincinnati Research Society
• American Urological Association, in 1907.

He was also elected to honorary membership:  The Northwestern Ohio Medical Association and the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society in 1896. The Medical Society of the State of New York and the Southwestern Kansas Medical Association in 1900; and the St. Louis Medical Society of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1901.

He has also been the recipient of honors from colleges and universities.  He was granted the honorary degree of Ph. D. by Illinois Wesleyan University in 1889; the degree of LL.D by the Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1906; and the honorary degree of medicine by the American Medical College of St. Louis, Missouri, June 1, 1911.

He has extensively contributed to medical magazines and reviews, with articles comprising more than three hundred titles.  He has also written several important medical books, which are received as an authority in this county and Europe.

He is the author of “Surgery of the Heart and Lungs,” six hundred pages, 1904; “Surgery of the Prostate, Pancreas, Diaphragm, Spleen, Thyroid, and Hydrocephalus,” two hundred and fifty pages, in 1904; “Surgery of Ureter,” two hundred and fifty pages, 1907-8; and “Surgery of the Thorax and its Viscera,” eight hundred pages, assured in 1912.  He has in preparation an extensive work on “The Surgery of Apoplexy,” five hundred pages, and a volume on the Ricketts genealogy, four hundred pages, 1912, the last having required thirty-five years of diligent research.

His library is one of the most complete to surgery and allied sciences that is to be found in the country and embraces more than three thousand carefully selected volumes and as many reprints.  This library is at the disposal of his group of enthusiastic students and assistants and those whose interests he unselfishly directs.

On the 20th of May 1885, at Ironton, Ohio, Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets was married to Miss Jennie Lind Clark, who died December 16, 1885.  He was again married on November 24, 1891, to Miss Elizabeth Laws, and two sons came to bless this union;  Merril, born September 24, 1893; and James, born January 18, 1896, both of whom are preparing to enter a university.

Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets is a remarkable example of the effect of thorough education and the right ideals in developing a useful and highly honorable career.  By faithful study and conscientious performance of his duties, he has surmounted obstacles that would have dampened the ardor of a less zealous and hopeful aspirant. His advice and assistance are sought by his brethren in almost every state of the Union.

The Doctor is a tireless writer on surgical subjects, especially that of the thorax and its viscera.  He has a mind of powerful grasp, a singularly retentive memory, and an easy and individual style of expression.  He is extraordinarily familiar with the history of surgery, medicine, and allied sciences.  Besides technical knowledge, Dr. Benjamin Merrill Rickets has such a fund of information on all conceivable subjects that his friends jokingly call him the “Inexhaustible Human Encyclopedia.”

Behind these mental characteristics is an active middle-aged young man.  In private life, he is jovial, merry, kind, and generous but as relentless in his animosities as faithful in his friendships.  Professionally he is always alert, serious and vigilant, and as sincere in his services to the poor as the rich, for finance is and always will be a secondary consideration with him in his dealings with those suffering and in need of help, be it physical or otherwise, for his counsel is often sought to solve other besides medical problems.

Cincinnati is singularly fortunate to have produced a man of this type, built on broad lines, highly cultured, unselfish, and with those personal qualities that ensure the devotion of friends and confidence of patients.  He has greatly endeared himself to his associates with his genial and courteous manner and unselfish life.  He belongs to the class of men born for achievement – who never weary in well doing and represent the high watermark of human progress.

Benjamin Merrill Ricketts, M.D., was born in Proctorville, this county, on May 20, 1858.  His parents are Gerard R. and Rachel Ricketts.  His father came to this county in 1832, and his mother was born.

Benjamin attended the public schools of this vicinity and entered Ohio Wesleyan University in the spring of 1876.  He left at the commencement of his junior year, making medicine a specialty throughout.  He began reading medicine in the winter of 1878 with his father, Gerard R. Ricketts; he entered the Miami Medical College in the fall of 1879, and in the spring of 1881, he graduated with honors.

He was located at Ironton on April 7, 1881, and on the 23rd of the same month, he was elected health officer and smallpox physician.  His post office address is Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio.

Source: Hardesty Atlas 1887 Lawrence County, Ohio

Daniel Drake and his Followers; Historical and Biographical Sketches, 1785-1909. Page 473

BENJAMIN MERRILL RICKETTS, born in Proctorville, Ohio, in 1858, attended the Miami Medical College, graduated in 1881, practiced in Ironton, Ohio, two years, in Columbus, Ohio, one year, and spent one year as an intern in the New York Skin and Cancer Hospital. In 1882, his office was at Second Street, between Center and Olive Streets, in Ironton, Ohio.

In 1886, his office was located in Cincinnati. He has done a great deal of valuable bibliographic work in carefully elaborating on particular subjects in surgery. He is well known as a ubiquitous attendant at meetings of medical societies in all parts of the country. His literary work is referred to in the list of medical authors.

Ironton Register, May 21, 1885 – Marriage – Dr. B. M. Ricketts, of New York City, and Miss Jennie Clark, daughter of D. H. Clark, were married this morning at the bride’s home, the Rev. James Hill officiating. In New York, they will have rooms on Murray Hill, at 146 East 36th-st.

Ironton Register, March 4, 1886 – Dr. B. M. Ricketts spent Sunday in town. He came up to Portsmouth to perform a couple of surgical operations. He says his business in Cincinnati is starting finely.

Ironton Register, March 17, 1898 – Dr. B. M. Ricketts was in town Monday. He had been up at his old home and was carrying back to Cincinnati the old triangle he used to play as a musician. He was at once the best triangle player in Lawrence County and could keep up with any tune that was played.