Dr. William E. Haines and Mary Rhoads

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Husband Dr. William E. Haines ¹

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           Born: 30 Oct 1816 - Westtown, Chester Co, PA 2
     Christened: 
           Died: 18 Apr 1846 2
         Buried: 

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         Father: Jacob Haines (1788-      ) 3
         Mother: Rachel Ellis (      -      ) 3

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       Marriage: 7 Oct 1841 2

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Wife Mary Rhoads ²

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           Born: 
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           Died: 
         Buried: 

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         Father: Joseph Rhoads (      -      ) 2
         Mother: 

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Dr. William E. Haines

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In his childhood he early displayed the activity of mind and energy of purpose which characterized his riper years, engaging in everything he undertook with zeal and efficiency.
He was first sent to school at Westtown Boarding-School, and continued his attendance there until the autumn of 1823, when his father removed to Muncy Valley, in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. In 1831 he was again sent to Westtown School, where he remained for three years engaged in the study of mathematics and other branches of a sound English education, as well as the Greek and Latin languages.
By his manly rectitude, no less than by his industry and ready acquisition of knowledge, he won the respect and esteem of his teachers, while his natural animation, joined to an innocent play of wit, rendered him an agreeable companion to his schoolmates, with some of whom he formed friendships which were as lasting as his life.
His close application acting upon a constitution naturally delicate, so far impaired his health that he was compelled to relinquish for a time the pursuits in which he was so much interested and to return home, which he did in August, 1834. Soon afterwards he determined upon the practice of medicine as the vocation of his life, and entered the office of Dr. Rankin, a respectable practitioner in the town of Muncy. He devoted himself with new zeal to the studies which were to be so interwoven with the success of his future life; during the summer in the office of his preceptor, and in the winter by an attendance upon the lectures in the University of Pennsylvania.
Towards the close of the winter of 1837 his health again began to decline, but he was able to continue his attendance upon lectures and his assiduous reading till the close of the session, and to pass the examination for a degree with credit.
He was scarcely twenty-one years of age when, after some search for a suitable field for practice, he settled upon Springfield, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, as the sphere where he should assume the onerous responsibility, and encounter the ill-repaid toil, the struggles against prejudice and mistrust, and the anxious solicitude for success which too often attend the commencement of practice.
Although almost immediately employed by many families in his neighborhood as they had occasion, he had, however, much leisure time, which was employed in adding to his stock of medical knowledge, as well as reading upon general subjects. In the following winter he delivered a course of lectures on chemistry at the Springfield Library Rooms, which were listened to with interest by a numerous audience.
His manifest ability, clear judgment, and efficient action soon won for him a confidence in the estimation of the public, which was heightened by the kindness, dignity, and rectitude which characterized him; so that his practice continued rapidly to increase until the summer of 1840, when he was seized with a severe illness. This malady, the exact nature of which is not known, after confining him some weeks to his bed, left him so enfeebled as to compel him to seek renovation and repose amid the bracing air of the mountains of Lycoming and the much-loved society of his paternal home. After some weeks thus spent he returned to his practice, which became sufficiently lucrative to justify him in the following spring in purchasing the premises immediately opposite the Springfield meeting-house, upon which he resided the remainder of his active life. He married and the union contributed greatly to the happiness of his after-life. In his personal appearance at this time Dr. Haines was of medium height, his figure slender and hair light, complexion fair, and his face, though not handsome, was rendered agreeable by an expression of intelligence, dignity, and benevolence.
His manners partook less of artificial polish than of a true politeness, which arose from native kindness of heart and that just sense of self-respect whereby he scorned not the humblest and rendered to the highest the deference due from an equal to excellence and worth. Though little disposed to converse freely in the presence of numbers, among his more intimate friends his manner was easy and affectionate, heightened by a play of genial wit.
Towards his patients his conduct was most admirable. He was regarded by them as a friend and brother; for while his abilities, medical skill, and mild dignity of deportment inspired them with respect, his kind sympathy won their grateful affection. In the spring of 1842 an epidemic of typhoid fever prevailed in the circuit of his practice. While busily engaged in attending to others his own family was attacked, and finally himself, in consequence of which he was confined for several weeks to his house. After his recovery he wrote a short account of the epidemic, which was published in the American Journal of Medical Sciences. Dr. Haines was a member of the religious Society of Friends, to whose doctrines he was strongly attached, regarding religion not as an abstract speculation, but as a practical law of life, affecting every action, regulating a man's whole being, and requiring of him the practice of every virtue. [HCC 1881, 584]

1 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 577, 584.

2 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 584.

3 J. Smith Futhey & Gilbert Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Louis H. Everts, 1881), Pg 577.