American Medical Biographies/Gundry, Richard
Gundry, Richard (1830–1891)
Richard Gundry was born at Hampstead, London, England, October 14, 1830. His father, the Rev. Jonathan Gundry, was a Baptist clergyman who early imbued his son with a love of learning and was able to send him to a private school in the neighborhood, where he gained his first knowledge of the classics. At fifteen he came with his parents to Simcoe, Canada, where after a brief period of study in a Latin school he was thrown largely upon his own resources. He obtained the means for pursuing his professional education by writing in the office of an attorney and began to study medicine under Dr. Coverton, Toronto, graduating in 1851 at Harvard Medical School. At Harvard he had the advantage of instruction from and personal contact with such men as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jacob Bigelow and J. B. S. Jackson (q. v. to all), taking an excellent stand in his class and graduating with honor. He settled in Rochester, New York, but before he had been long engaged in practice he was able by a fortunate legacy to realize his desire to travel abroad. Returning in 1853, he settled in Rochester, New York, again, but during the year, in company with Dr. E. M. Moore (q. v.), an eminent surgeon of Western New York, removed to Columbus, Ohio, where soon after he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in Starling Medical College. In 1855 he received a provisional appointment as second assistant physician in the Central Insane Asylum at Columbus, Ohio. His fitness for the work was so apparent, the temporary appointment soon became a permanent one. From 1855 to 1857 he was one of the associate editors of the Ohio Medical and Surgical Journal. In 1857 he was transferred to the Southern Ohio Asylum at Dayton as assistant physician, of which asylum he became medical superintendent in 1861. This position he filled with signal ability until 1872, when he was transferred to the Southeastern Asylum at Athens, Ohio, then in process of erection, to complete and prepare the buildings for occupation. Subsequently, on the completion of the asylum in 1874, he was appointed its first medical superintendent and retained the position until 1877, when he was transferred to Columbus, Ohio, to complete and make ready for occupation the very extensive buildings of that asylum.
After twenty-three years of most faithful, devoted and self-sacrificing service to the insane of Ohio in three of the asylums, he was forced to resign because his political affinities did not correspond with those of the newly elected governor. To a sensitive, high-minded physician like Dr. Gundry the blow was a severe one, and he felt the injustice of this treatment to the day of his death. He was immediately appointed medical superintendent of the Maryland Hospital for the Insane at Catonsville, and held the position until he died. In 1880 he received the appointment of professor of mental and nervous diseases in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, and in the following year, upon the sudden death of Prof. E. L. Howard (q. v.), was appointed professor of materia medica in the same college, and there lectured with great acceptance during the remainder of his life. In January, 1890, he suffered severely from influenza, and for a time was very seriously ill; but he subsequently rallied and apparently gained his usual health. Although he lectured as usual, his duties cost him much effort. In March, 1891, the trustees of the Maryland Hospital, perceiving his condition, voted to give him a long leave of absence, with the hope that his health would be restored. He went to Atlantic City and for a time seemed to improve. Subsequently, however, severe symptoms of Bright's disease developed, and it was evident that his days were numbered. In accordance with his earnest desire he was brought home where, four days later, he passed away, surrounded by his family and devoted friends.
Dr. Gundry's career as chief medical officer of an institution for the insane was most successful. The literature of alienism was familiar to him, and his speeches and writings upon all matters touching insanity showed an intimate knowledge of the work which others had done. He was also an expert in asylum construction, and the asylums at Dayton, Athens and Columbus were in turn built by him. He was an omnivorous reader, a ready writer, a clear and pleasant speaker, with rare gifts of expression and vast stores of knowledge at instant command. His memory for names, dates, facts, incidents, and of verbal quotations was phenomenal. He had great intellectual grasp, and in debate could marshal his forces most effectually. He wrote with equal facility, and the list of titles of his articles and addresses is a long one. It is to be regretted that no full record of them seems attainable. Among the number were "Observations upon Puerperal Insanity," 1860; "The Psychical Manifestations of Disease," 1881; "The Care of the Insane," 1881; "Separate Institutions for Certain Classes of the Insane," 1881; "The Relations of the Powers of the State to the Rights of the Individual in Matters Concerning Public Health," 1883; "Valedictory Address to the Graduating Class, College of Physicians and Surgeons," 1883; "Some Problems of Mental Action," 1888; "The Care of the Insane," 1890. He was a born letter writer, and his letters sparkled with wit, historical allusions and apt quotations.
Dr. Gundry was married in 1858 to Miss Martha M. Fitzharris of Dayton, Ohio, who, with eight children—four sons and four daughters—survived him. In private life he was seen at his best. His rich stores of knowledge were poured forth freely in conversation, and he was equally at home in all fields.
Without neglecting his scientific work, he was a devoted student of history and of English literature. Pure in life, an enthusiast in his chosen work, an able physician, a profound scholar, an affectionate husband, a devoted father, a steadfast friend—such was his character.