4 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Skr. 



the weather or the condition of the roads. When sixteen years 

 old, he walked to Philadelphia, a distance of forty-seven and a 

 half miles, to go to a better school. He found a good family 

 where he worked each half day for his board, and went to 

 school the other half day. He bought an English dictionary, 

 which he studied incessantly. In carrying out his steadfast pur- 

 pose, he would work and save until he had accumulated a small 

 sum of money; theniie would devote himself to school until 

 the money was exhausted. Thus, by intense industry and un- 

 remitting frugality, he acquired a good English education. 

 When he was twenty years old, he decided to become a phy- 

 sician, and began studying in the office of Drs. Benjamin and 

 James Green, at Quakerstown, Pennsylvania. The next year, 

 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Philadel- 

 phia, but at the end of two years his funds were exhausted. 

 In those days, it was the custom of medical students, if they so 

 desired and felt competent, to enter upon practice before final 

 graduation ; and therefore, in his twenty-third year, the young 

 doctor opened an office at Segersville, Lehigh County. This 

 same year he married Catherine Shertzer, of Millerstown. Her 

 ancestors came from Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania, 

 and were successful and influential people. Catherine Shertzer 

 became the mother of Theodore Hittell. She lived to be over 

 ninety years old. She was an unusual woman, of great per- 

 sonal charm and intellectual gifts, and her son always spoke of 

 her with a keenness of appreciation that denoted the greatest 

 of affection. 



The newly married couple settled down in Segersville, where, 

 due to his energy and ability, supplemented by the popularity 

 of his accomplished wife, Jacob Hittell gained at once a large 

 practice ; so that in less than a year, he had accumulated enough 

 money for his final year in the Philadelphia college. Thus, 

 when about twenty-four years old, he received his medical 

 diploma from what was then perhaps the most prominent in- 

 stitution of its kind in the United States. 



After practicing in several small towns in that region, he re- 

 moved, in 1825, to Marietta, in Lancaster County. Remaining 

 there five years, he was attracted by the prospects of success 

 in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. These states were then becom- 

 ing a magnet, like California in later times. The fertility of soil, 

 beauty of scenery and cheapness of public lands were drawing 



