From the Calendar – Peoa Doctors

As in most small, early settlements in Utah, Peoa residents did not have easy access to medical care for most of the first forty or fifty years of existence.  What care was available was provided by a loose network of midwives and self-trained doctors.  There were three men who lived in the area that provided most of the medical care that was to be found, John Maxwell, Orrin S. Lee, and a strange man who went by “Dutch John.”

          John Maxwell was of Scottish descent and he and his family came to Peoa with the first pioneers called to settle the area by Brigham Young.  The first settlers came to Peoa in 1860 and 1861 with John Maxwell arriving in 1860.  John had married Ellen Russell in 1856.  The two had been sweethearts in Scotland before John left for America in 1854.  Ellen immigrated with the remainder of John’s family in order for the two to be married. The couple first settled in West Jordan before being sent to Peoa.

John first operated a sawmill that was powered by the Weber River.  This proved to be a very profitable endeavor.  He also operated a general store for a time.  From the information available, it is clear that John was a self-taught healer who would be akin to a homeopathic doctor today.  Where his education in medicine came from is not evident, but his ability was undeniable.  He used his knowledge of plants and natural healing elements to ease the suffering of those in the settlement.  The community came to call him “Uncle John” and the familiar refrain of “Fetch Uncle John” was heard anytime illness arrived in the community.  John and Ellen moved to Cowley, Wyoming in 1901 before eventually settling in Tabiona, Utah.  John passed away in 1911.

            Orrin Strong Lee was born in 1835 and crossed the plains with his family in 1850.  In 1859, he married Sally Ann Miles, and they lived in Salt Lake City until 1862 or 1863.  At that time, the small family, two children had been born, moved to Peoa and took up a homestead.  Seven more children were born in Peoa.  Orrin played an active role in community life in Peoa.  He was in the bishopric for five years, he served as Summit County Assessor, and he served in the Territorial Legislature.

Orrin S. Lee, like John Maxwell, had no formal medical training.  He did have an advantage over John though as his father was a trained physician and his brother was a trained dentist.  Orrin certainly would have picked up some knowledge from both men.  Sally also worked as a midwife among the early settlers. Orrin and Sally left Peoa for Idaho in 1887.

        The most unusual character of the three was Dutch John, whose actual name was Frederick John.  Very little is known of this man, except that he was Prussian which led to the moniker of “Dutch John.”  The man appeared in the hills near Rockport, just north of Peoa, around 1880.  Most people would call Dutch John a hermit, he lived in a cave and was shy, unkempt, and backward.

Dutch John did have an uncanny knowledge of herbal and plant-based healing that saved many a Peoa resident from illness, suffering, and possibly even death.  One story shared by Sarah Gibbons follows:

“One night I (Sarah) sent for Dutch John to come, because Thomas, my husband, was quite sick.  He came with his little black bag, gave him a white pill to take, and told him to take the pink one in a couple of hours; he was told to repeat this all through the night.  Thomas decided not to stay awake to take them, so he took them all at once and he nearly died.”