Zina Pitcher was an American physician and naturalist.
Background
He was born on April 12, 1797 on a farm near Fort Edward, Washington County, New York, United States, the son of Nathaniel Pitcher, a captain in the Revolutionary army, and Margaret Stevenson, a native of Scotland. His father died early, leaving to the mother an unproductive farm and the care and education of four sons. A woman of strong personality, she laid the foundation for a highly useful career for each of her boys.
Education
Zina was educated in the common schools and in a local academy. He began the study of medicine with the neighborhood practitioners, then attended the medical school at Castleton, Vt. , and, according to the practice at the time, received the degree of M. D. from Middlebury College (1822).
Career
Shortly after graduation he entered the army as an assistant surgeon and was sent to Michigan where during the next eight years he served at posts at Detroit, Saginaw, and Sault St. Marie. He was next transferred to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory and thence to Fortress Monroe, Virginia. While here in 1836 he tendered his resignation to the War Department and returned to Detroit to take up the private practice of medicine. His military service was mainly in pioneer surroundings and in close association with Indians.
Wherever he went he interested himself in the natural history of the locality, particularly in botany, geology, and meteorology. He furnished material for A Flora of North America (2 vols. , 1838 - 43) and several new botanical species were named after him.
In all his contacts with the Indians he sought the acquaintance and the friendship of the tribal medicine men and familiarized himself with their ideas and practices. The result of this study is found in his chapter on Indian medicine in Henry R. Schoolcraft's Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States (vol. IV, 1854).
Pitcher had taken a prominent part in Detroit life and had made strong friendships there during his earlier stay, so that when he returned in 1836 he found himself from the first a leading citizen. In 1837 he was appointed a member of the first state board of regents, a position he held until 1852. He was himself designated professor emeritus. Owing to inadequate clinical material at Ann Arbor he instituted a clinical summer course at St. Mary's hospital and the Marine hospital at Detroit, beginning in 1857. He was designated clinical instructor, the only teaching title that he ever held. Faculty opposition caused the suspension of these courses after two sessions.
He was elected mayor of Detroit three times, in 1840, 1841, and 1843. In 1844 he sought to assist the presidential campaign of Henry Clay by running for governor on the Whig ticket, but he went down to defeat with his chief.
At various times he held the positions of city physician, county physician, member of the city board of health, and surgeon to the Government Marine Hospital. For the greater part of his career he was on the staff of St. Mary's hospital. He was president of the Territorial Medical Society (1838 - 51), of the Michigan State Medical Society (1855 - 56), and at the Detroit meeting of the American Medical Association in 1856 he was elected its president. He was active in the organization of the Detroit Sydenham Society and of the city and county medical societies. Pitcher was one of the incorporators of the Michigan Historical Society in 1822, and upon his return to Detroit, was appointed librarian of the society.
In 1853 he and Dr. Edmund Andrews founded the Peninsular Journal of Medicine. Upon the departure of Andrews to Chicago in 1855, he became a co-editor of the journal, continuing until 1858. He was later an associate editor of the Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal. He continued practice until 1871 when failing health compelled him to quit. He died in Detroit.
Achievements
Personality
He was a man of fine personal appearance, genial manner, and dignified bearing. Positive in his convictions, he was strong in his likes and aversions.
Though always a general practitioner he was a bold and skilful, though conservative, surgeon.
Connections
He was married in 1824 to Anne Sheldon of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She died in 1864, and in 1867 he married Emily L. (Montgomery) Backus of Detroit.