It was an ordinary day. Reading VOL. 123, No 1, December, 2022 of The Journal of Lancaster County's Historical Society soft-cover booklets. Neat stories that tell the life of those who have lived and died in my home town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. My story today deals with a fellow by the name of C.R. Farmer who was a Doctor in Lancaster County from 1909 to 1980. The story begins with...The sophistication and professionalism of the practice of medicine in Lancaster County which grew steadily from 1909 to 1980, the years in which Dr. Clarence Ravenal Farmer and his son, Dr. John Lawrence Farmer, dedicated their careers. Dr. Clarence Ravenal, also known as C.R. Farmer, practiced in Lancaster County from 1909 until 1961 when his son Dr. John Farmer joined him in the practice. Dr. John's daughter Elizabeth Farmer Jarvis, wrote a small history about her father and her grandfather which I had the chance to read and will share with you today and tomorrow. It is an amazing story of two doctors living in the very early 1900s until 1980. To many that are my age, that seems like just yesterday, but to those in their late teens and younger, that probably seems like ages ago!
C.R. Farmer grew up in Elm City, North Carolina and attended college at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for four years; two years of undergraduate and two years of medical school. After that he transferred to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia until he graduated in the class of 1909. Wasn't long before that time that doctors were apprenticed-trained and didn't even require a high school diploma before entering the field of medicine. Dr. C.R. interned at St. Joseph Hospital which was founded in 1883 in Lancaster, PA. As an intern, C.R. rode a horse-drawn ambulance beside the driver and upon arrival would ring the door bell of the house where he was visiting. After his internship, C.R. went to work for the Reading Railroad, since they needed company doctors due to the many accidents they had. Wasn't long before he married and moved with his wife Laura to North Carolina to practice medicine. Eventually, he and his wife moved back to Lancaster to please C.R.'s mother. Dr. John L. Atlee, Sr. asked Dr. John to come back to Lancaster as his assistant because he was a young surgeon and becoming quite successful. Laura's father, Herman Wohlsen, had built all the houses on Lemon and Nevin streets, so he rented a property to the couple for both their home and office. Dr. C.R. used his space at 573 West Lemon St. as both his first floor office and second floor residence. Dr. C.R. worked for Dr. Atlee and made daily visits to patients homes by taking a trolley car until he tired of that and purchased a Buick Roadster. Dr. C.R. also had his own private practice where he practiced general medicine. His office visit cost fifty cents, a dollar for a house call, and $15 for delivering a baby. Over the years of doing surgeries, Dr. C.R. said that about 50% of the surgeries had been charity. Dr. C.R. went on many patient visits with Dr. Atlee for which they used Dr. Atlee's Pullman automobile which was made in York, PA. If a patient had to be seen in the Quarryville area, they wold take the trolley since parts of Southern Lancaster County were inaccessible by car. Other times they might have to go by train and might have taken a nurse with them. Early on Dr. C.R. delivered babies because Dr. Atlee preferred not to do them, so he very soon pushed that over to C.R. In 1909 Dr. C.R. went to Richmond, Virginia and spent time there with Dr. J. Shelton Horsley at the Medical College of Virginia learning how to do a cesarean section. Together, Dr. C.R. and Dr. Atlee did the first cesarean section in Lancaster in 1912. In 1909 Dr. C.R. went to Richmond, Virginia and spent time there with Dr. J. Shelton Horsley at the Medical College of Virginia. C.R. eventually became a member of the staff of Lancaster General, becoming Chief of Surgery from 1924 to 1939. C.R. was instrumental in taking female interns and doctors at Lancaster General. During the Depression Dr. C.R. Farmer did a lot of charity work. He often would take food instead of money for his work. During C.R.'s long practice of medicine over more than fifty years, he delivered over 5,000 babies. He even delivered all four of his grandchildren to his son, Dr. John Farmer and his wife Mary Louise. Dr. C.R. Farmer was a great physician and surgeon, greatly admired by physicians and patients alike. Follow along tomorrow with me as I tell the tale of his son, Dr. John L. Farmer. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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