Dr. J. Wilson Poucher: Medical Pioneer The memoirs of Poughkeepsie physician John Wilson Poucher (18591948) capture the dramatic changes that swept American medicine at the turn of the 20th century. The excerpts reprinted here from Dr. Poucher's Reminiscences Personal and Professional (1859-1938) reveal a young surgeon of unusual skill boldly practicing modern techniques in what was literally still a "horse and buggy" era. Dr. Poucher's narrative is imbued with a sense of amazement at the transformation of American medical care during his lifetime. Dr. Poucher grew up in the Berkshire hills John Wilson Poucher, M.D. where he recalled learning early on to "revel in the growth of mountain laurel, arbutus and pinxster blossoms" His childhood on the family farm instilled in him a passion for the outdoors, most especially for wildflowers —a subject about which Dr. Poucher wrote and lectured frequently, though lamenting his failure to write "with the pen of a Burroughs or a Thoreau." His other significant interest was the study of local history where he excelled both alone and in partnerships with others to create an impressive legacy of scholarship still in use today. Particularly notable was his work transcribing over 40,000 gravestones in Dutchess and Ulster counties—many on the verge of becoming illegible. His medical career in Dutchess County began in 1887 and continued until his retirement in the mid-1930s.
J. Wilson Poucher: "I had always been a country boy and the country had a permanent hold on me that I could not shake off. Poughkeepsie, in 1887, was both city and country and now, after more than half a century, I have never a minute's regret that I made that decision [to practice medicine in Poughkeepsie]. After making a short survey of the city, I found a two-room office at 18 Garden Street. The front room, as a waiting room, for patients—if any came, and a rather nice rear room for a consultation and living room. Here I installed my few belongings, a book case, a desk
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