Unfortunately a well-known Civil
War medical and surgical instrument book shows a photo of a fairly
common post-1870 Shepard and Dudley amputation set and dates it to
having been made during the Civil War. (Note: the author of the
previously mentioned book bought the set and published his book prior to
the knowledge being published by Edmonson about Shepard and Dudley in
the late 1990's Unfortunately the author as chosen to not correct
his mistake in the book after the contrary evidence was surfaced. This collector mistakenly bought one too.)
Shepard and Dudley were not in the
surgical instrument business until 1870 when they purchased a
surgical instrument company from William F. Ford. During the Civil War,
Shepard, owned a business called 'Rubber Clothing Co.' Dudley was not
even a part of this rubber goods company. Shepard and Dudley joined
forces to buy out Ford in 1870 and then were known as 'Shepard and
Dudley' Surgical Instruments. They were importing surgical instruments
from Europe and 'putting up' sets under the name of Shepard and Dudley
while located at 150 William St. in New York.
In 1870, Shepard & Dudley listed
themselves as "sole agents for W. F Ford, instrument maker to New York
City, Bellevue, and New York State Woman's Hospitals." see The Medical
Register of New York and Vicinity. . . (1870), 22. (Full text available
via Google Books for proof.)
Information above and below was
taken from Dr. Edmonson's, American Surgical Instruments: An
Illustrated History, published by J. Norman Publishing.
Edmonson's full text and data is available via Google Books, where you
can read the entire history of Shepard and Dudley on-line:
"Rubber Clothing Co. [also listed
as F. M & W. A. Shepard in advertisements] (Frederick M. & William A.
Shepard) (Note: Edmonson says they were not in the instrument business
at this time, during 1860 to 70 the Shepards made rubber goods,
syringes, and this point is backed up by multiple documents from the New
York, business records of the time.)
Shepard and
Dudly Surgical Instruments: 1860-70: 347 Broadway & 150 William, N.Y.
See
additional information and
research relative to Shepard and Dudley on this site
_______________________________________
Dates
when Shepard and Dudley were in operation as surgical instrument makers:
Shepard & Dudley (Frederick M.
Shepard and Francis D. Dudley) surgical instruments
1870-75: 150 William, N.Y.
1876-77: 150 William and 33 Gold, N.Y.
1878-94: 150 William, N.Y.
"Following the Civil War, the
partnership of Wade and Ford was dissolved. In March 1866 Wade sold his
share of the business to William F. Ford. Ford operated the business at
the 85 Fulton Street address until 1870. Ford then sold the business to
Shepard and Dudley in 1870, who began business at 150 William Street."
(Edmonson, page 82). This information is backed up by medical society
and other business documents in New York during the 1870's, which you
can easily access on Google books under Ford, Shepard, Dudley.
Below is an example of the
surgical set most often mistakenly cited for having been produced during
the Civil War based on information prior to the research published by
Edmonson in the 1990's. As I mentioned above, I too mistakenly bought
the Shepard and Dudley set below ( for $7,500 ) which turned out to have
been made in the 1870's. Knowledge talks and B.S. walks! Know before
you go.
See additional
photos of this set
This set above has none of the
attributes usually associated with a military set and the fact that
it is is labeled with the Shepard and Dudley, 150 William St. address
trade label means it did not exist during the Civil War.
