Dr. Franz Joseph Wilhelm "William Meissburger

Other Events:

• Name: William Meissburger
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24795
• Residence: 1863, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1870, , New York State, USA
• Residence: 1880, Buffalo, Erie, New York, United States

Notes:

MEISSBURGER, WILHELM

Wilhelm Meissburger was an unconventional character who bestowed the benefit of his presence on this community for a short time in the 1860's.

He was born in 1833 in Freiburg, Baden, Germany and attended &he University in that city. His introduction to the local scene was through the Berliner Journal of January 30, 1862:

We draw the attention of our readers, especially those in Hamburg, Wilmot, North and South £asthope, &c. , that Dr. Meissburger from Freiburg, Baden has established himself in Hamburg. He has presented 25 authentic documents regarding his medical studies at both the University of Freiburg and Tubingen, beginning with his studies at the high school through to his creditable graduation as a physician. From this evidence it is obvious that Dr. Meissburger is qualified and proficient in all branches of medical and and surgical theory and practice, and from the irrefutable official evidence regarding his qualifications as an educated physician and accoucheur. In addition he is in possession of the sought for necessary legal licence to enable him to practice in Canada. That he is qualified is the decision of the public to make in confidence, and we wish him all the luck in his new field.

The adulations of this article was certainly a magnificient introduction to his practice at New Hamburg, but. On February 20th his card announced that he was living at the residence of Mr. Michael Morley, in Baden.

On September 18th. he moved to Waterloo.

On January 8, 1863 he had moved to the former residence of Dr. Legler, and had married Louisa Bindeman of Berlin.

The next reference was from Buffalo, reported in the March 30, 1865 issue of the Berliner Journal, and as he had spent some time in Lancaster, his stay in Berlin must have been brief.

In Buffalo he had a large practice among the Germans of that city, and he was prominent in the Turn Verein, the Orpheus Society and the Saengerbund.

He put out a medical journal. the Nordamerikanische Deutsch-medicinische Zeitschrift fur Praktisch Heilkunde, and he was an assistant of the publication of Medicinisch-Chirurgisches Correspondenz-Clatt fur Deutsch-Amerikanische Aerzte, which was published in Buffalo.

The Dumfries Reformer on April 8, 1886 quoted a report from a Buffalo paper that his wife had been granted, a divorce - something practically unheard of at that time.

He died of a paralytic stroke on November 30, 1889. He was survived by two sons.

He was however not finished - his will was a sensation widely quoted, and the cause of much derogatory comment in the newspapers of the day:

My body shall be cremated, as the enclosed receipt of 12 August 1886 states. To this end shall my body be dressed in the clothing which is in the wardrobe in my bedroom marked with the words "my last attire." The funeral shall be as simple and sensible as possible. No cleric (pfaffe), priest, pastor, reverend, rabbi, or however these idlers may be called shall take part or be present. The Buffalo Turnverein shall have the first claim to my ashes. After cremating my body, or rather as soon as my body is laid in the oven, my friends are invited to a lunch to the value of $20 in the Turnhall or another suitable location. On this occasion anyone in the house, or in the crematorium or at the lunch who desires to sing, I beg you, sing only merry songs.


Doctors in Waterloo County 1852-1925 by Alexander D. Campbell

Franz married Louisa Bindemann 4 Jan 1863, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Louisa (daughter of Rev. Friederich Wilhelm Bindemann and Carolina Louisa Huber) was born 18 Oct 1842, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 14 Jul 1903; was buried , Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, Erie Co., New York. [Group Sheet]