In 1898 he was elected a member of the Association of American Physicians. Several of his contributions appear in the transactions of this society.
These honors and activities, as here outlined, would seem to have made up a life of unusual usefulness, but through all these years there was continuous devotion to an organization in which Dr. Withington found opportunity for service, which led eventually to his being elected president of the Massachusetts Medical Society (1914–15 and 1915– 16). Beginning as a censor of the Norfolk District Society in 1892 he, together with his associates, formulated a plan for the uniform examination of candidates for fellowship, becoming supervisor under this scheme, which was adopted in 1894. Later, he was chosen councillor from the Norfolk District in 1896– 97–98, and vice-president of this district in 1900–01. He was elected president of this same district in 1902. This honor he could not accept because it came just as he was about to remove his home to Boston.
From 1908 to 1914, Dr. Withington served the State Society as member of the Committee on State and National Legislation, being the secretary and executive officer for several years. His associates will always remember the valuable services rendered the society and the state, for he carefully and diligently studied all matters of a medical and public health nature. He was quick to detect merit or error in bills presented, and sacrificed valuable time in attending hearings and disseminating information. Although frequently obliged to antagonize the efforts of those opposed to public health and medical interests, he had the rare ability of presenting facts in a logical manner, free from personal bias. He always secured a respectful hearing. He represented the state society in the National Legislative Council of the American Medical Association in Chicago in 1912–13–14, where he reported the conditions in Massachusetts.
On September 20, 1893, he married Georgianna Bowen. Of this union there were born four sons and a daughter. One son died in infancy. It is interesting to note that the father's life inspired one son, Paul Richmond, with the desire to practise medicine.
Witt, Christopher (1675–1765)
Christopher Witt, or DeWitt, as he is occasionally named, was born in Wiltshire, England, in the year 1675; he emigrated to America in the year 1704 and joined the theosophical colonists on the Wissahickon. He was then in his twenty-ninth year, and in addition to being a thorough naturalist and skilled physician, was well versed in the mystic sciences and in astronomy. He was esteemed highly by his fellow-mystics; his services as a physician were constantly called into requisition. Shortly after the death of Kelpius, Dr. Witt, together with Daniel Geissler, moved to a small house in Germantown upon the land owned by Christian Warmer, who, with his family, looked after the welfare of their tenants.
Dr. Witt was a good botanist, and upon moving to Germantown, he started a large garden for his own profit and amusement. It was probably the first botanical garden in America, antedating Bartram's celebrated garden by twenty years. Dr. Witt corresponded for many years with Peter Collinson, of London, whose letters to some of the leading men in the province mention the high esteem and regard in which Dr. Witt was held by the English naturalist. In later years there was a friendly intercourse between Dr. Witt and John Bartram (q. v.).
Besides being an excellent botanist, Dr. Witt was an ingenious mechanic, constructing the first clocks made in Pennsylvania, and probably in America. He was an artist and a musician, possessing a large pipe organ said to have been made by his own hands. He also practised horoscopy and would cast nativities using the hazel rod in his divination.
When the Doctor was eighty years old his eyesight failed him, resulting finally in blindness. His slave, Robert, carefully looked after his wants until his death in the latter part of January, 1765, at the age of ninety. He was buried in the Warmer burial-ground in Germantown. This spot became known as Spook Hill, as tales were told which have survived to the present time, how upon the night following. the burial of the old mystic, spectral flames were seen dancing around his grave.
Witthaus, Rudolph August (1846–1915)
Rudolph August Witthaus was a toxicologist and expert in legal medicine. Born in New York City, August 30, 1846, the son of Rudolph A. and Marie A. Dunbar Witthaus, he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Columbia University in 1867, and the Master of Arts at the same institution in 1870. Proceeding to Paris, he studied at the Sorbonne
