Sacramento
County
Biographies
MARY J. MAGILL, M.D.
'Dr. Mary J. Magill was born in Dubuque, Iowa, March 23, 1855 and was educated in the convent at Peoria, Illinois. She afterward taught several terms of school in Mason county, where, in 1878, she married Dr. Z. T. Magill. In 1880 she removed with her husband to Lincoln, Missouri, and began the study of medicine, which she completed in a three term course at the Woman's Hospital Medical College of Chicago, graduating in April, 1884. Later in the same year she came to Sacramento, where in the succeeding four years she established an excellent practice, and made many warm friends. On January 20, 1885, she joined the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, of which she was the first and has been the only female member. She was also a member of the Medical Society of the State of California. Much against her will, she was compelled by ill health to abandon her chosen profession, and death, the universal friend, came to her relief August 15, 1891. She was an earnest, conscientious, painstaking physician, and afforded another instance of the fact that women, equally with men, are capable of doing good work in the medical profession.'¹
On the arrival of the Drs. Magill in California, Dr. Mary Magill began practice in Sacramento and her husband, Dr. Z. T. Magill, located at Nicolaus, Sutter county. Both applied for membership in the Sacramento Society for Medical Improvement, December 16, 1884. Their credentials were examined and found acceptable. On January 20, 1885, Dr. Mary J. Magill was elected to membership but Dr. Z. T. Magill was ineligible being a non-resident in the county. However, later, he began practice in Sacramento and became a member of the Society, December 29, 1888.
Dr. Mary Magill at once became a regular attendant at Society meetings. On February 18, 1885 she gave her first essay, selecting the subject: “Cerebral Anemia and Hyperemia.” This presentation is noteworthy being the first paper ever presented to the Society by a woman. On October 19, 1886 Dr. Magill contributed an essay on “Thermal Fever” (Sun Stroke) and followed October 16, 1888, with a paper “Cystitis in the female---treatment of.” Mary Magill had won her place in the esteem of Society members. Her practical contributions were well received and she was complimented for her efforts.
Dr. Magill attended the Society meeting of May 21, 1889. It was her last appearance with the group. That “death's messenger,” that “captain of the men of Death”---tuberculosis---was in command. She was taken to Napa, California, hoping change might be beneficial but slowly, gradually, the resistance waned. Death crossed her threshold, August 13, 1891.
“All that was mortal of Mrs. Magill, wife of Dr. Magill, was laid in the grave yesterday morning, in the presence of a large concourse of sorrowing friends. The lady's death occurred at Napa on Thursday morning, and her remains were brought here for sepulture. Rev. Father Walsh of Woodland conducted the services. Mrs. Magill was a woman highly respected by all who knew her, and one who labored for her kind, she having been a practicing physician up to within a few months of her decease.”²
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1 Occidental Medical Times, v. V, 1891, p. 895.
2 Winters Express, August 15, 1891, p. 5, col. 6.
Transcribed
4-14-17 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: “Memories,
Men and Medicine A History of Medicine In Sacramento, California by J. Roy
Jones, M.D., Pages 406-430. Publ. Sacramento Society for
Medical Improvement, 1950.
Golden Nugget
Library's Sacramento County