Camden People - Dr. Dillwynn Parrish Pancoast

DR. DILLWYN PARRISH PANCOAST was born in Mullica Hill, in Harrison Township NJ on March 11, 1836 to Israel Pancoast and his wife, the former Sarah Ann Lippincott. Israel Pancoast was a farmer. There were at least two older brothers, Stacy and Keasby Pancoast, and at least one sister, Mary Anne, as of October 1850.

Dillwyn Pancoast received his education at the Marietta Academy, graduating in 1853, and then went to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, from which he graduated in 1856. He then studied under Dr. Alfred Smith of Yardley PA, before completing his studies at the University pf Pennsylvania School of Medicine in March of 1859. He began practicing medicine in Philadelphia at Chestnut Hill until 1863, when he went into the Union Army. He served until December of 1865. After returning to his medical practice in Pennsylvania he relocated to Camden in 1869.

Dr. Pancoast was in Camden by 1870. At the time of the Census he was lodging with Mr. And Mrs. Henry Powell in Camden’s Middle Ward. Also rooming there was Albert Story, who would go into the furniture business and whose family would later own a home at 919 Broadway.

By 1880 Dr. Pancoast had married Harriet Mason. The family, which included sons William and Stacy Pancoast resided at 519 South 5th Street, where Dr. Pancoast conducted his medical practice and also operated a pharmacy.

On August 12, 1887 Cooper Hospital was dedicated. The four original attending physicians were Dr. Pancoast, Dr. H. Genet Taylor, Dr. Alexander M. Mecray, and Dr. William A. Davis. The surgeons were Doctors E.L.B. Godfrey, O.P. Cross, Dowling Benjamin and J.F. Walsh, with Dr. Joseph H. Willis as the original pathologist and Dr. Harry B. Jarrett serving as the first Resident Physician.

By the following year, according the City Directory of 1888-1889, Dr. Pancoast and family had moved to 521 South 5th Street. He also had hired a Grant Elmer Kirk to work in his pharmacy. The following year Kirk moved to Camden’s Eight Ward, centered around Broadway & Ferry Avenue, and went to work for Dr. John Donges. He graduated from medical school in 1891, married Dr. Donges’ daughter Miriam and practiced on Broadway for about 30 years.

Dr. Dillwyn Parrish Pancoast died in Camden on November 4. 1899. In his time the doctor had been a member and also served as president of the Camden County Medical Society (1879) and the Camden City Medical Society. He also had sat on the Board of Managers of the Camden City Dispensary and had been a member of the Cooper Medical Club.