Augustus White Stinchfield (1842 - 1917)

Born 21 Dec 1842 in Phillips, Franklin, Maine, United States

Husband of Martha Jane Bear — married 1 May 1878 in Eyota, Olmsted, Minnesota

Descendants

Died 15 Mar 1917 at age 74 in Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, United States

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Biography

Augustus Stinchfield is Notable.

• AUGUSTUS W. STINCHFIELD, M. D.

After many years of successful practice as one of the able representatives of the medical profession in Minnesota, Doctor Stinchfield retired from the exacting labors of his humane calling, which he had signally dignified and honored by his character and effective services, and he now gives the major part of his time and attention to his important banking and other capitalistic interests, being one of the influential citizens of Rochester, the thriving judicial center of Olmsted County and one of the important industrial centers of Southern Minnesota.

A scion of staunch English stock in both the paternal and maternal lines and a representative of families that were founded in colonial days in New England, that cradle of much of our national history, Doctor Stinchfield was born at Phillips, Franklin County, Maine, the 21st of December, 1842. He is a son of Jacob H. and Jane R. (Whitney) Stinchfield, both likewise natives of that same county of the old Pine Tree State, where the former was born in 1818 and the latter in 1820. The father devoted his entire active life to the industry of agriculture, of which he was a prominent and successful exponent in his native county, where he continued to reside until his death, in 1896, his wife having passed to the life eternal in 1878, both having been zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of their seven children Doctor Stinchfield is the eldest of the three now living; Mrs. Minnie True is a resident of the State of New York; and Mrs. Clara Richardson still maintains her home in Maine. The father was a staunch democrat in politics, was a man of strong character and well fortified opinions, and his life was one of usefulness and kindliness in all relations of life. He was a son of Nathan Stinchfield, who likewise passed his entire life in the vicinity of Phillips, Maine, and whose father, John Stinchfield, removed from the southern part of the state to Franklin County, as the founder of the line of that has been so prominent in the civic and material activities of that section. Andrew Whitney, maternal grandfather of Doctor Stinchfield, likewise was a native of Phillips, Maine, where he passed his entire life, save for the period of his loyal service as a soldier in the War of 1812.

Well may one thus favored revert with satisfaction to the vitalizing and ennobling influences that surrounded him when he was reared to maturity in sturdy New England, whose sons and daughters have honored the nation from the earliest to the latest period of our national existence. Such fortuitous environment was that of Doctor Stinchfield, and in the common schools of his native place he laid the foundation for the broad and liberal education which denotes his strong intellectuality and mature judgment at the present day. After adequate academic training the doctor followed the line of his ambition by entering the Maine Medical College at Brunswick where he fortified himself fully in a preliminary way for the exacting demands of his chosen profession, his degree of Doctor of Medicine having been conferred by this institution and later it was his privilege to take a post-graduate course of one year in the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and graduating from the Maine Medical College with the class of 1868.

Doctor Stinchfield initiated the practice of his profession in Southwestern Missouri, in 1870, and two years later he removed thence to Minnesota, which state has represented his home during the long intervening period of more than forty years – years marked by large and worthy achievement on his part. in 1873 he engaged in practice at Eyota, Olmsted County, and there he continued to maintain his residence for nearly a score of years, within which he built up a large and substantial practice and in his profession gained a reputation that extended beyond mere local environs. in 1892 the doctor, who had become a man of financial independence and no little influence, removed to Rochester, where he became a member of the firm of Mayo & Stinchfield and assisted in the organization and establishing of the infirmary which has since gained national reputation through the great prestige of the Mayo Brothers as skilled surgeons. With the infirmary or hospital the services of Doctor Stinchfield were held of the highest value, owing to his exceptional professional ability, and he did not retire from the work of his profession until 1908, when he withdrew from the firm of Mayo & Stinchfield.

Doctor Stinchfield was one of the organizers of the First State Bank of Rochester and became its first president, a position which he still retains. The bank is one of the substantial and well managed institutions lending to the financial prestige and facilities of Southern Minnesota, its operations being based on a capital stock of $75,000, its undivided profits in excess of twelve thousand dollars; and its deposits in excess of five hundred and forty thousand dollars. The Doctor is president also of the State Bank of Dover in the Village of Dover, Olmsted County, in the organization and incorporation of which he was primarily instrumental. Its deposits are above two hundred thousand dollars and the amount of deposits has been increased by fully one-half during the five years of Doctor Stinchfield’s administration as president. He is a stockholder also in a number of banking institutions in North Dakota, where he is president of the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Grandville and vice president of the Bank of Balfour, in the same county, McHenry. The financial precedence and executive ability of Doctor Stinchfield are further shown through his incumbency of the office of vice president of the Minnesota institution for Savings, in the City of Minneapolis.

in politics Doctor Stinchfield has ever given his allegiance to the republican party, and recent defections in the ranks of the party have not caused him to abate his loyalty to its principles At the time of the Civil war the doctor, who was not yet twenty years of age, enlisted as a private in Company F, Thirty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer infantry, with which he served until the expiration of his 100 days’ term of enlistment, his more gracious memories of the great conflict by which the nation’s integrity was preserved being vitalized by his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. He is affiliated with Rochester Lodge, No. 21, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons’ Halcyon Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons; Home Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar; and Osman Temple, St. Paul, of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the City of St. Paul. in a professional way he is identified with the Olmsted County Medical Society, the Minnesota State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational Church.

in the year 1878 was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Stinchfield to Miss Martha J. Bear, daughter of the late Benjamin Bear, who was one of the early settlers and representative farmers of Olmsted County. in conclusion are given brief data concerning the four children of this union: Nellie M. is the wife of Dr. Wm. Braasch, who is a member of the staff of the Mayo Hospital, in Rochester; Minnie B. the wife of M. J. Brown, who is a son of Chief Justice Brown of the Minnesota Supreme Court and who is himself engaged in the practice of law at Bemidji, Minnesota; Lura is the wife of Dr. Henry Mayerding, likewise identified with the Mayo Hospital; and Alice, who remains at the parental home, is still attending the high school.

Minnesota: Its Story and Biography, Vol. 2 (1915) pgs 752-753

https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE57117

• Dr. Augustus W. Stinchfield was born in Franklin county, Maine, in 1842. He received his education at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, which institution invested him with a medical diploma in 1868. In the fall of that year he came west to Missouri, remaining in that state until 1872, when he came to Minnesota, and located in Rice county. In 1873 he came to Eyota, and is having an extensive practice. He was married in 1878, to Miss Mattie J. Bear, a native of Olmsted county. Nellie M. and Charlie I. are the names of their children. He is a member of the I.O.O.F. and also of the A. F. and A. M.

History of Winona, Olmsted, and Dodge Counties Together with Biographical Matter Statistics, Etc. Chicago: H.H. Hill, 1884.

• Augustus W. Stinchfield (December 21, 1842–1917) was an American physician and one of the co-founders–along with Drs. Charles Horace Mayo, William James Mayo, Christopher Graham, E. Starr Judd, Henry Stanley Plummer, Melvin Millet and Donald Balfour–of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester,Minnesota. Stinchfield was born in Phillips, Maine and received hisearly education in the nearby town of Strong. He moved from Maine to Wisconsin as a young man and, in 1864, enlisted as a private in Company F of the Thirty-ninth Wisconsin Volunteer Army. After the Civil War, he attended Bowdoin College and the University of Michigan. He received his M.D. degree from Bowdoin College in 1868. After practicing medicine in Verona, Missouri, as well as Dundas and Eyota, Minnesota, Stinchfield was asked by William Worrall Mayo to join the Mayos' practice in 1892. William Worrall Mayo was retiring and wanted a mid-career physician to balance the growing private practice. While the Mayo brothers excelled in surgery, Stinchfield was well qualified to handle the non-surgical duties of the practice. When Will Mayo approached the remaining partners in 1915 about changing the private practice to a not-for-profit practice, Stinchfield was the first to sign the agreement. When the remaining partners signed the transfer papers, this gift insured the long term survival, development and growth of the Mayo Clinic.

The living great-grandson of Dr. Stinchfield (Douglas Anderson) continues to work at Mayo Clinic in the department of information technology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Stinchfield

Let's read local history

</b>News in the Neighborhood

By Iris Clark Neumann

It was a history lecture about a man who was a doctor in Eyota in the late 1800s.

I knew only a little bit about Dr. Stinchfield: that he'd doctored in the Eyota area, married the daughter of one of the earliest Eyota white settlers and had been part owner of a bank in Dover.

After his nearly 21-year-stint doctoring in Eyota he'd become the first non-Mayo partner within the early Mayo practice.

When I saw that Stinchfield was the subject of a history lecture at the Olmsted History Center I marked my calendar and planned to take the day off work.

As a member of the history center I can attend monthly lectures at the "Princess Café" for free. I also get a discount on the books they sell in their gift store.

Since I was also preparing for Christmas, a visit to the bookstore prior to the lecture turned into the source of at least one gift, actually two if you count the kazoo I got on sale for my husband.

Even without a kazoo Dale has the ability to sound like a musical instrument as he improvises and adds his own flair to songs, generally when he thinks he's by himself. But with a kazoo, I can only imagine what sorts of songs will break forth from the den where he relaxes.

For my mother-in-law I picked out the book, "The Other Mayo," written about Edith Mayo, the wife of the first Charles Mayo. I'd hoped I would have time to read the book before I had to give it away.

I actually only read it halfway through as getting ready for Christmas reached a frantic pace closer and closer to Christmas. It is a lovely book, one focusing on the woman behind the man: the woman who entertained his guests, cared for his children and traveled extensively with her husband as he went in search of the latest medical practices.

I'd first met Edith Mayo in another book I recently completed, "The Sister's Story," by Sister Ellen Whelan. Edith Graham was known for her meticulous skill in administering ether to patients undergoing surgery performed by Charles or Will Mayo.

She was a tiny young woman who'd grown up in a large local farm family - born of pioneer parents. She'd left the area for training to become a nurse and then after returning, been hired to work at Saint Marys Hospital when it was very new, much, much smaller than it is today, and standing outside town near corn fields.

"The Sister's Story" also mentions Stinchfield in passing. For several years I have been researching local Dover, Eyota and Viola history, an area that is encompassed by the current Dover-Eyota school district. One story or person discovery leads to another story or person - discovery is like a chain. Once you learn about something or someone, your awareness leads you to more.

Until now, except for a few bare bones facts, I had found little else about Stinchfield.

I can't begin to tell the entire tale that Dr. Phil Browne told about Stinchfield at the lecture. He'd discovered a much more comprehensive story, in part from a descendent now living in Utah.

Dr. Augustus W. Stinchfield doctored in Eyota from 1873 to 1892 and during this time became one of the foremost physicians in Minnesota. A Maine native, he'd traveled and lived a number of places before getting enticed by an Eyota druggist to move from Dundus, Minn., to Eyota.

Apparently part of the enticement was the daughter of local settler Benjamin Bear, the man for whom Bear Creek was named. This creek begins from a spring that was the source of water for the Bear family when he moved to Eyota Township in 1854.

Martha Bear, the third daughter of Ben and Maria Bear, was a teacher in a local one-room schoolhouse.

The Mayo brothers, noticing that they had few patients in the Dover and Eyota area and needing help with their expanding practice, asked Stinchfield to become a partner. He was 50 when he accepted their offer and moved his family from Eyota to Rochester. They'd chosen Stinchfield because he was a mature and well-known local doctor. The Mayo brothers were still young men and their father was old enough to retire, although he continued to practice medicine with his sons.

By having Stinchfield in their practice, the brothers could focus more on doing the surgeries they were becoming well known for while their new partner met patients and diagnosed their problems with their father.

My search for Stinchfield info has not ended. Because finding some info leads to more, at the history center I purchased a paperback version of "The Doctors Mayo" by Helen Clapesattle, a biography that's been in print since 1969.

I noticed there were several pages in the book's index where Stinchfield was named. Since I now have this book, I know I will begin the slow and tedious process of reading it.

This Christmas I received a gift certificate from my husband for Barnes & Noble, and a couple of books that I already own. Since I discovered, while shopping for books, that this bookstore accepts books back for store credit without a receipt, I am hoping to acquire a winter's worth of reading when I make another visit to the store.

I noticed that there is a "Sister's Story Part II" that is a must-read for me. The birth of Saint Marys Hospital is a fascinating tale, with a beginning that, having lived in this area all my life, I had only guessed at.

It had appeared to me that the Sisters of Assisi were focused on being nurses. In reality the Sisters of Assisi were first teachers and building a hospital was not something they particularly were interested in doing, at least initially.

By building and operating a hospital, the sisters created a stage where the Mayo brothers could perform the innovative surgeries that they became famous for. The planning and sacrifice of the sisters to create a hospital meant to cure people and not a place for people to go and die was innovative.

Edith Graham (Mayo) was the young nurse who taught teaching nuns to become nursing nuns.

The hospital, coupled with the skill of the very young Mayo doctors backed by their doctor father, formed the beginning of a story that lives on and on. Obviously, we all know it is world famous.

Now that I've read the first half of "The Other Mayo," I now can envision people living in the huge Mayowood home. I've visited there a few times and even written about the fascinating gardens that once cascaded from the front of the home. But now I can think of it as Edith's home where she moved from their in-town home with her growing family and entertained doctors who came to visit the early Mayo Clinic. These doctors also stood in theater-like operating rooms at Saint Marys, witnessing the intriguing skills of Will and Charles Mayo.

See what happens when you start reading books? And how much more exciting it is to read about real people who really lived - whose lives created pieces of the world where we live today.

Bluff Country Reader

http://goo.gl/dnFdQ

Census 1860

Name: Augustus W Stinchfield

Age in 1860: 17

Birth Year: abt 1843

Birthplace: Maine

Home in 1860: Strong, Franklin, Maine

Gender: Male

Post Office: Strong

Value of real estate:

Household Members: Name Age

Jacob H Stinchfield 46

Jane R Stinchfield 42

Charles A Stinchfield 19

Augustus W Stinchfield 17

Mary E Stinchfield 13

Eliza Jane Stinchfield 9

Allura Stinchfield 7

Abby Stinchfield 3

Stinchfield 1 F

Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: Strong, Franklin, Maine; Roll: M653_435; Page: 859; Image: 274; Family History Library Film: 803435.

Source Information:Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

Minnesota, Territorial & State Censuses

Name: August Stinchfield

Age: 32

Census Date: 1 May 1875

County: Olmsted

Locality: Eyota

Birth Location: Maine

Gender: Male

Estimated birth year: abt 1843

Father's Birth Location: Maine

Mother's Birth Location: Maine

LINE: 15

Roll: MNSC_12

Source Information:Ancestry.com. Minnesota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.

Census

Census:

Date: 1885 age 42

Place: Eyota Twp, Olmsted, Minnesota

Census 1880

1880 Census: Eyota, Olmsted, Minnesota, Page 295A.
- A. W. STINCHFIELD, Self. MMW, age 37 [1843]. Born in ME. Physician. Fa & Mo: ME
- Mattie J. [BEAR] STINCHFIELD, Wife. FMW, age 25 [1855]. Born in MN. House Keeping. Fa & Mo: OH
- Nellie M. STINCHFIELD, Dau. FSW, age 10M [1879]. Born in MN. Fa: ME & Mo: MN
- Abbie STINCHFIELD, Sister. FSW, age 22 [1858]. Born in ME. Fa & Mo: ME

Census 1900

Name: Augustus Stinchfield

Age: 57

Birth Date: Dec 1842

Birthplace: Maine

Home in 1900: Rochester Ward 2, Olmsted, Minnesota

Race: White

Gender: Male

Relation to Head of House: Head

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name: Mattie Stinchfield

Marriage Year: 1878

Years Married: 22

Father's Birthplace: Maine

Mother's Birthplace: Maine

Occupation: physician

Household Members: Name Age

Augustus Stinchfield 57

Mattie Stinchfield 45

Nellie M Stinchfield 20

Minnie Stinchfield 15

Lura A Stinchfield 11

Alice Stinchfield 4

Amelia Klee 20 servant

Manford Graham 46 driver for doctor

Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Rochester Ward 2, Olmsted, :Minnesota; Roll: 779; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm:: 1240779.

Source In:formation:Ancestry.:com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.

Burial

Oakwood Cemetery, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota

Plot: Section 3B

Findagrave

76650152

FSFTID

FSFTID K6QP-VTW

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Laura Scott for creating WikiTree profile Stinchfield-31 through the import of WTbehado 10 17 13.ged on Nov 8, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Laura and others.