Alice Magaw Kessel
The Mother of Anesthesia
Alice Magaw Kessel was a pioneer in nursing research and the practice of nurse anesthesia through the publication of her clinical findings. She literally changed the anesthesia profession as we know it today.
Alice Magaw became friends with Edith Graham in Rochester and while at school at the Women's Hospital of Chicago. Returning to Rochester, Alice worked as a staff nurse at St Mary's hospital and was soon chosen by Charles H Mayo, MD and William J Mayo, MD to assume the role of anesthetist which had been performed by Edith Graham before her marriage to Charles H Mayo, MD. Alice was sent back to Chicago for additional training in the use of a microscope to assist in the preparation and examination of pathological specimens. She also assisted the Mayo brothers in their clinic offices.
Magaw's success in anesthesiology is in large part due to understanding her role through documentation, observation, and her clinical skills. Her sound anesthesia principles and practices remain true today. Talking to the patient, attentive titration of anesthetics, airway management skills, patient response monitoring, and awareness of the surgical procedure to anticipate the needs of the surgeon without hurrying the anesthesia process.
Through many published articles Magaw became internationally recognized and physicians saw a decrease in anesthetic-related mortality. Setting the bar for safe, research-based anesthesia, Magaw's documentation was used as evidence to validate a landmark civil case that challenged nursing practices with regard to administering anesthetics. The court assessed that when a nurse administered anesthesia, she was practicing nursing.
In 1899, Magaw became the first nurse anesthetist to be published when the Northwestern Lancet printed her article "Observations in Anesthesia." Five more articles would follow. Charles Mayo bestowed upon her the name "Mother of Anesthesia" for her mastery of open drop ether.
Through her association with the Mayo brothers, Alice Magaw met Dr George Kessel, a prominent surgeon from Cresco, Iowa. After a courtship period, Kessel and Magaw were married at the home of William J Mayo, the best man, on May 23, 1908. The local newspaper described their marriage as a union of two professional people, and they would be honeymooning for three months touring Europe. Upon their return, Magaw began providing anesthesia in the old Kessel Hospital and continued in the new St Joseph's Mercy Hospital. The local newspaper reported on many occasions the Mayo brothers, Kessel, and Magaw working in the Cresco hospitals together.
Dr Kessel was a widower with four daughters. The oldest two were grown, educated, and independent and two were still at home when Magaw and Kessel married. Not unlike today, juggling a profession, motherhood, a household, and being a new wife was difficult at times. A legal separation was arranged and signed on August 7, 1919. The two were never divorced and Magaw was considered a 'grass widow' which was a common label at that time. Magaw returned to Mayo for a short time until she left to deal with several health issues including diabetes. Alice spent her last few weeks of life in a sanitarium in Hudson, Wisconsin. She was there for 59 days, dying from diabetes on February 17, 1928. Her final resting place is in the Corunna, Michigan, next to her family.
It was Magaw's dedication to excellence and her documentation of her perfection of the early anesthetic techniques that set the standard for current anesthesia providers. For someone who was given so little to work with, she made a lasting and indelible impression on a profession that is proud to claim her as the 'Mother of Anesthesia'. (AANA Journal, 2009).
George Kessel, MD
Hospital Founder
Dr. George Kessel was born in Winneshiek County to a pioneer family. He entered a family of three children along with his twin sister. The family attended country school and upon graduation, he was sent to Breckenridge Institute in Decorah, Iowa. Upon completion of the two-year course, his father offered the choice of 160 acres or a college education. He chose college with the idea of becoming a minister. At Grinnell, Iowa, he stayed with a physician, Dr. Elbert Clark, earning his room and board as a handy man. Through this association, he became interested in the medical profession. He received his BA and MA from Grinnell College, his MD from Rush Medical Institute, and went on to the University of Vienna and the clinics of Paris and London. He did much research in the Pasteur Technique of sterilization. In 1914, he was made a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Kessel married Lila Truitt (April 17, 1836-January 5, 1898) in 1886, who was a classmate at Grinnell. They lived in Decorah for a few months before moving to Cresco and had four daughters.
With encouragement and professional help from his friends, Drs. William and Charles Mayo, he founded the first hospital in Northeast Iowa. This was known as the Kessel Hospital. Old records reveal that many people from the outlying counties came for their medical attention. Dr. Kessel remained an active member of the staff at St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital until his death on January 29, 1945.
His professional organizations included the American Medical Association, Iowa State and Tri-state Medical Societies, Interstate Post-Graduate Assembly, and on the Board of Governors of the Gorgas Memorial Institute. He wrote articles for newspapers and was published in several medical journals.
Dr. George Kessel served the City of Cresco as mayor, as a member of the school board, and for many years as the president of the library board. He also donated land to the city for a park, now known as Kessel Park.
The Kessel Hospital became St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in 1910, then the Howard County Hospital in 1974, and is now under the umbrella of Regional Health Services of Howard County.
Cresco's First Hospital . . ..
Dr. George Kessel opened Cresco's first hospital in 1902. Dr. Kessel purchased the property from Mrs. August Beadle, which included 17 acres and the house to be used as the hospital. With his own money, Dr. Kessel converted the home into a hospital.
The first floor was a ward containing four beds, two private rooms, a sitting room and a reception hall. The second floor had four private rooms, a bathroom, operating room and an office. A kitchen, dining room, laundry and clean-up room, pantry, and linen closet constituted the basement.
The hospital had much of the latest equipment, and Dr. Kessel insisted on well-qualified nurses. Because of the limited space, medical and obstetric cases were not admitted. Dr. Kessel used the latest in sterile techniques and was able to keep his surgical infections rate to less than 0.1%. Dr. Kessel was very good friends of the Mayo brothers, Charles and William. They did surgery here when there was an unusual case and Dr. Kessel would go to Rochester to help the Mayo brothers.
By 1908, the Kessel Hospital was unable to take care of all the cases that applied for admission. (Other doctors' patients could only be admitted by Dr. Kessel.) The community began to see a need for a larger hospital. Dr. Kessel agreed to turn over his hospital only if a first class and up-to-date facility could be built and maintained. The Sisters of Mercy were petitioned to take over and supervise the hospital.
Remembering the Nursing School. . ..
Dr. Kessel petitioned the Sisters of Mercy to supervise a new hospital. The one stipulation was to establish a training school for nurses. The school started in 1910 with an enrollment of six ladies. Dr. Kessel had quite a lot of input in the nurses' training. He was especially concerned with the rules of sterile technique.
The old hospital was used as the training school for the academic studies and as sleeping quarters for the nurse trainees. As you would expect, the discipline was very strict. There was limited time away from the hospital with an early curfew. Because of insufficient clinical material for teaching, the school was forced to close in 1927.
The building then was remodeled in 1928 for use as a graduate nurses' home and a chapel was added. The nurses received room and board with $55 a month salary. One of the reasons for the housing arrangement was the twelve-hour shifts, and the nurses were available for call when emergencies, surgeries, and deliveries occurred. The nurses' dorm was discontinued after the hospital had a fire on February 14, 1943.
In 1978, after 50 years, the hospital again became a teaching hospital. It was made available to the nursing students from Northeast Iowa Community College. The Education Department has grown with telecasts from NICC and other institutions to bring continuing education to the hospital personnel.
Dr. Kessel would be astonished and very proud of the quality of the nurses at Regional Health Services of Howard County today.
To remember Dr. George Kessel, a park has been named in his honor.
Kessel and Truitt Family Trees
George W. Kessel
March 20, 1856-January 29, 1945, born in Winneshiek County, Iowa
Father: John Kessel, 1822-1902, born in Bavaria, Germany
Mother: Margaret Catherine Lycum/Leykum, 1831 - 1911, born in Bayern, Germany (Bavaria)
Married: Lila Clare Truitt Kessel, May 27, 1886
Lila Truitt: Born April 17, 1863 - January 5, 1898, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Cresco, Iowa
Married: Alice Magaw Kessel, May 23, 1908
Alice Magaw: Born November 9, 1860 - February 17, 1928, Pine Tree Cemetery, Corunna, Michigan
Children
Martha Kessel Haas, August 12, 1887 - November 12, 1980, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Cresco, Iowa
Julia Brainerd Shackleton Kessel Lowry, 1891-1987, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Cresco, Iowa (Married to Frank Jacob Lowry, Sr., one of the Five Admirals from Cresco, Iowa)
Helen Truitt Kessel Lissfelt, 1894-1970, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Cresco, Iowa
Lila Gertrude Kessel Williams (Gokie), December 13, 1897 - December 9, 1997, Oak Lawn Cemetery, Cresco, Iowa
Siblings
Elizabeth Kessel
Cynthia Kessel (twin)
Sarah Kessel, 1862, Iowa - died, Chicago, Illinois
Margaret Kessel
Henry Kessel (died in infancy)
Lila Clare Truitt Kessel
April 17, 1863 - January 5, 1898, born in Drakesville, Iowa
Father: Johnson Burt Truitt, 1836-1865, Drakesville Cemetery, Iowa
Mother: Elinor Hanlin Truitt, 1835-1879, Hazelton Cemetery, Grinnell, Iowa
Siblings
Charles Burt Truitt, February 5,1857 - July 8,1945, Oakwood Cemetery, Macon, Missouri
John Hanlin Truitt, April 14, 1859 - November 2, 1865, Drakesville Cemetery, Iowa
Alice Magaw Kessel Pioneering Nurse Anesthetist. She performed 14,380 procedures with no fatalities.
November 9, 1860 - February 17, 1928, born in Coshocton, Ohio
Father: Thomas Magaw, June 9,1819 - March 4,1885, born in Pennsylvania, died in Minnesota
Mother: Nancy Elizabeth Magaw, 1826-1899, born in Ohio, Pine Tree Cemetery, Corunna, Michigan
Siblings
Emma Magaw, 1856-February 6, 1890, Cook, Illinois
Laura Magaw
John Magaw, December 25, 1867 - March 6, 1926, born in Michigan, died in Rochester, Minnesota
Clem Magaw
Ella Magaw Thompson
George Kessel, Lila Truitt Kessel, Alice Magaw Kessel obituaries
Lila Truitt Kessel
Mrs. Lila Truitt Kessel was born in southern Iowa, April 17, 1863. She was the youngest of three children, one died infancy and the other, a brother, survives her and resides in Macon, Mo.
Mrs. Kessel’s father died when she was a little child, leaving her mother to support and care for her children as best she could. In 1879 her mother died, and she then made her home with Dr. and Mrs. E. M. Clark, of Grinnell, Iowa. She was a graduate of the High School at Grinnell. She entered Iowa College at Grinnell as a member of the class of “83, but did not graduate with her class, being compelled to leave school and begin teaching as a means of support before her college course was completed. She first taught in the public schools of Bloomfield, Iowa, for two years, then in the public schools of Grinnell for two years. On May 27, 1886, she was married to Dr. George Kessel. Four children were born to them; Martha, aged nine years; Julia, aged six, Helen, three, and Gertrude not quite four weeks.
Her death on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 5th, was much unexpected. She had been quite ill, bit on the day before her death was feeling much better, but heart disease had been subtly doing its deadly work with the rest of her sudden demise.
The funeral; occurred Friday afternoon from the home, her pastor, Rev. Holmes officiating; the interment being in Oak Lawn Cemetery.
Mrs. Kessel was a consistent member of the Congregational Church and a valued worker in the church and its societies and also a helper and aider of all worthy enterprises, and in this capacity, and also in her capacity as a wife and mother and for her social qualities will she be missed by a large circle of friends in Cresco.
The sympathy of all goes out the Doctor and motherless little ones is their sad bereavement.
Alice Magaw Kessel
The Howard County Times, February 22, 1928 (from the Rochester Daily Bulletin)
Headline: Former Cresco Lady Dies in Hudson, Wis.
Famous Anesthetist Once Held World Record in Number of Operation Cases
Cresco Plain Dealer, February 24, 1928 (from Rochester Post Bulletin)
Headline: Mrs. Kessel of Rochester Dies at Hudson, Wis.
Mrs. Alice Magaw Kessel, who at one time held the world's record in the number of anesthesia cases during operations, died Feb. 17 of diabetes at the sanitarium in Hudson, Wisconsin at the age of 68.
She has been in failing health for the last three years and went to Hudson several weeks ago.
It was estimated today that she had given anesthesia to 25,000 patients and the greatest part of her work was in Rochester.
Alice Magaw contributed many papers to medical journals. In 1906, following the publication of her fifth article which reviewed more than 14,000 cases.
She was born in Coshocton, Ohio, November 9, 1860, and when a young woman she moved to Olmsted County, Minnesota with her parents. For a time, they lived at Five Corners, five miles northwest of Rochester.
She entered the Women's Hospital in Chicago in 1887 and was graduated as a trained nurse two years later. Returning from Chicago in 1887 she succeeded Mrs. C.H. Mayo as anesthetist at St. Mary's Hospital and continued as the only anesthetist until 1900.
Her first paper on a review of 1,300 cases was published in the Northwestern Lancet in May 1889. Her fifth article published in 1906 reviewed more than 14,000 cases of surgical anesthesia.
Of a large family, she is survived by one sister, Mrs. F.A. Thompson of Corunna, Michigan.
George W. Kessel
The Howard County Times, Wednesday, January 31, 1945
Private funeral services for Dr. George Kessel, who died at his home in Cresco, January 29, will be held at the family home at 10:30am Thursday morning. The Rev. E.F. Byers of the Congregational church will officiate. Burial will be in Oak Lawn Cemetery.
Relatives here for the funeral are Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Haas of Emmetsburg, their daughter Joan, who is a student at Grinnell college and Mrs. Alan Shackleton of Omaha.
Funeral services for Dr. Kessel's son-in-law, H.L. Lissfelt, of New York City, who died in a New York hospital at almost the same hour as did Dr. Kessel will be held today in New York. Mr. Lissfelt died after a 24-hour illness of pneumonia.
The account of Dr. Kessel's death and a sketch of his life activities was published in the Iowa daily papers Tuesday, the data was furnished by a representative of The Times as follows:
Dr. George Kessel, 88, physician and surgeon here for more than 50 years, once associated with the Mayo Brothers at Rochester, Minn., died Monday, at 5:15pm after two weeks' illness from a heart attack.
His death occurred at the same hour as that of his son-in-law, H.L. Lissfelt, in New York City after an illness from pneumonia. Telegrams advising relatives of the deaths passed each other in transit.
Dr. Kessel was one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons in northern Iowa and for many years was a noted public benefactor. He was born in Winneshiek County, March 20, 1856. He was a past vice president of the Iowa Medical Society and was a member of the American Medical Association and the Fellows American College of Surgeons.
Founder of the Kessel hospital at Cresco, the first hospital in this city, he operated it from 1902 to 1910, then gave it to the Sisters of mercy of Dubuque. They named it St. Joseph's Mercy hospital in 1910, which name it still retains. Dr. Kessel was retained as chief surgeon.
In 1913 Dr. Kessel gave the ground for a park adjoining the hospital grounds known as Kessel Park. In 1930 he added another tract to the gift, including a residence, now known as Kessel Park Lodge adjoining the park.
Dr. Kessel was the mayor of Cresco for two years, was a member of the school board for three years, was once president of the library board and during the First World War was a member of the selective service board.
His wife, Lila Truitt Kessel, died many years ago. He is survived by the following daughters: Mrs. Raymond W. Hass, Emmetsburg, Mrs. Frant B Lowry, wife of Rear Admiral Lowry of Cresco, Mrs. H.L. Lissfelt, New York City and Gertrude at home.
There are four grandchildren, Capt. Alan Shackleton, who is somewhere overseas, Mrs. C.R. Myers of Quantico, VA, Ann Lissfelt of New York City and Joan Haas of Emmetsburg, IA.
The Howard County Times, Wednesday, February 7, 1945 Obituary
The following sketch of the life of Dr. Kessel was read at the funeral service held at his home February 1.
George Kessel, the only son of John and Margaret Catherine Lycum Kessel, was born in Winneshiek County near Kendallville, Iowa, March 20, 1956.His early youth was spent in the hard labors of farm work on the homestead enduring with his parents and four sisters the hardships of pioneer life.
His early education consisted of the country schools of that day and Cresco High School, and his higher education at Breckenridge Institute of Decorah and Grinnell College, Iowa from which he received both Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees.
This was the background for his medical education at Rush Medical College from which he was graduated in 1885, followed by postgraduate study at the University of Vienna and the clinics of Berlin, Paris and London. It was in these cities he met and studied under the great scientists and medical men of that day, including Gross and Semmelweis of Vienna, Louis Pasteur of Paris, and Lord Lister of London.
With the help and advice of his close friends Drs. Wm J. and Charles Mayo he founded and established with his personal funds the first hospital in Cresco, known as the Kessel Hospital. The site which Dr. Kessel purchased for this purpose was the estate of Augustus Beadle, the founder of the city of Cresco; and the Beadle home was remodeled and equipped for hospital purposes. He operated the hospital himself for eight years, and then because the accommodations became inadequate for the number of patients who came for help, he gave the hospital building and part of the surrounding park to the Sisters of Mercy, who with help from the citizens of Cresco, built the present St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Dr. Kessel continued to serve as Surgeon-in-Chief.
He was a life member of the Howard County Medical Society and the Iowa State Medical Society, of which he was a past vice president, a member of the American medical Association and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
He served one term as mayor of Cresco, was a past member of the school board, past president of the City Library Board, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Masonic order and of the Congregational Church.
During World War I he served on the Exemption Board of Howard County and in World War II was Medical Examiner for the Howard County Selective Service Board.
His tangible gifts to the city and community were many. He foresaw the need of a public library in the community and was the instigator of the city's provision of the proper site for a Carnegie Library building contingent upon his gift of park land. These gifts were the outgrowth of his own firm conviction that unless a man leaves his community a better place for having lived in it there has been no reason for his existence. His unfailing love for his fellowmen was expressed in his devotion to his professional care of the sick and his comfort to the troubled and frightened with thought of personal remuneration. His own life was such an inspiration to many a young man and young woman through his encouragement and financial help they have prepared themselves for their lives of usefulness. His advice to all these young people was "For a successful career learn to do the common things of life uncommonly well."
In May 1886, he married Lila C. Truitt of Grinnell, Iowa who proceeded him in death. To this union were born four daughters Martha (Mrs. Raymond Haas of Emmetsburg, Iowa); Julia (Mrs. Frank Lowry of Cresco); Helen (Mrs. Harry Lissfelt of New York City) and Gertrude of Cresco. The daughters, one sister, Mrs. W.A. Dean of Chicago and four grandchildren survive.