DR. HORACE MAY AND CAROLINE HOVEY

Health services in Albion during its pioneer days in the 19th century were provided by individual physicians without clinic or hospital facilities. Oftentimes doctors would set up offices in their homes and "made the rounds" throughout the community, visiting the sick and performing services in individual homes.

Albion’s most prominent pioneer physician was Dr. Horace May Hovey (1815-1877), who came to "the Forks" in June, 1837 at the age of 22. A few years later he took up the study of medicine and began his practice here. His home at 127 W. Porter St. contained his front-room office space.

Hovey utilized the services of his wife, Caroline (Grosvenor) (1818-1903), who often prescribed drugs for office patients when the doctor was out making calls with his horse and buggy. Caroline sometimes served as a nurse, and often prepared corpses for burial, as there were no established undertakers here in Albion during the 1830s and 1840s. As a result, Caroline performed the final duties for over 400 dying/dead patients over her career. Somehow, I get the impression that patients would rather have seen the good Doctor rather than Mrs. Hovey.

Dr. Hovey made friends with the native Indians, and they often came to him for medical services. The Indians paid the doctor with food supplies, a welcome payment in the days when such commodities were scarce. For over forty years, Dr. Hovey was an active practitioner of medicine in Albion and was a well-respected citizen.

Some of the charges for his services in the 1870s included: tooth extraction—25 cents; day call—75 cents; night call--$1.50; and amputation of a thumb, finger, or removal of tonsils--$5.00.

From our Historical Notebook this week we present a daguerreotype photograph of Dr. Horace May Hovey and a photograph of his wife, Caroline.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
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