Doctors Robert C. Paterson, Robert Brown, Sidney Blanchet, Charles C. Trembley Born: October 5, 1878
Died: 1921
Married: Margaret Eddy
Children: Robert M. Brown, Jr.
Dr. Robert M. Brown was the chief surgeon of the Saranac Lake General Hospital from 1911 until his death in 1921.
Adirondack News, May 7, 1921.
Dr. Robert M. Brown, of Saranac Lake, a physician well-known in the North Country, died of blood poisoning Saturday at his home in that village. He was chief surgeon at the Saranac Lake General Hospital and had performed hundreds of operations there. He became infected through a slight cut on his hand, received recently while performing an operation.
From an unidentified 1921 news clipping
BLOOD POISONING CAUSES DEATH OF DR. R. M. BROWN
Prominent Saranac Lake Surgeon Killed by Cut Received During an Operation
GREAT LOSS TO TOWN
Funeral in the Presbyterian Church Tuesday Afternoon at Half-past Three
Dr. Robert M. Brown, well known surgeon, died at his home, No. 18 Church street, Saturday afternoon at 4 o'clock. His death was caused by septic poisoning from a small cut received while performing an operation. At the start of his illness it was thought that he was suffering from influenza for the surgeon had completely forgotten the tiny cut that was the cause of his death.
Dr. Lawrason Brown was in attendance upon the surgeon during his illness and the assistance of additional specialists from Montreal and Plattsburgh was secured but from the beginning the battle was hopeless. Not until the condition of Dr. Brown was grave was it learned that he had been cut during the operation he performed.
Dr. Robert M. Brown was born in Lamer, Missouri, on October 5, 1878. His early boyhood was spent in the Middle West. He attended Harvard college and upon his graduation entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at New York. When he graduated he was on the staff of the Roosevelt Hospital for a time, and later practiced surgery in New York city.
In March 1908, he married Miss Margaret Eddy, of Cambridge, Mass. During the year of 1910, Dr. Brown broke down and came to Saranac Lake suffering from incipient tuberculosis. He rapidly regained his health and continued his practice which, grew as the years went on and eventually covered not only Saranac Lake but the entire Adirondack country as well.
Dr. Brown made a place for himself in the life of Saranac Lake that will be difficult indeed to fill. He was president of the medical board of the General Hospital and it was largely through his untiring efforts that the success of that institution has been achieved. He was consulting surgeon to the Trudeau Sanatorium and gave frequent lectures to the nurses' training school there. He has also lectured at the Trudeau school of tuberculosis. He was a member of the Franklin County Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Not only was Dr. Brown prominent in a professional way. He was an ardent sportsman being an enthusiastic curler and greatly devoted to the game of golf. During the past winter he accompanied the team of the local curling club to Syracuse, Utica and other cities to play, matches.
In the intimate life of the village Dr. Robert M. Brown was a prominent figure. Beloved by everyone he went about his work of relieving suffering and sickness with an energy often beyond the limitations of his own health. No person lacking funds ever did without a necessary operation if their case came to the attention of Dr. Brown. His great success was due in a large measure to the love and enthusiasm for his work that was plainly apparent in the man.
The funeral of Dr. Robert M. Brown will be held in the Presbyterian church Tuesday afternoon, May 3, at 3:30 o'clock. Rev. George K. Newell will conduct the services. Interment will be made in the Pine Ridge cemetery and will be private.
Dr. Brown is survived by his widow and one son, Robert M. Brown, Jr.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 24, 1975
Robert M. Brown writes from Idaho: "Just thought you might be interested in a news item. About a half a century ago I was a newsboy for The Adirondack Enterprise in Saranac Lake. My father was the first surgeon at the General Hospital there, Dr. Robert M. Brown. Some 50 years later, following a career in motion pictures and television as an electronics engineer, I find myself in Idaho, raising a family, operating a small animal farm and publishing a newspaper — THE ENTERPRISE of Southern Idaho. My wife and I take pictures, do feature stories, dig up historical data and, in general, do the same thing that The Adirondack Enterprise does. Guess you might say "I've come full circle."
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 26, 1975
Some of the recollections of Dr. Robert M. Brown's family by those who read his son's letter in The Enterprise the other day, are that they lived in Steve Waltien's house on the corner of Helen and Church Streets, that Mrs. Brown was a very beautiful woman; that Dr. Brown who came under the auspices of Dr. LeRoy Gardiner, was an excellent surgeon and that his death was due to blood poisoning caused by a prick in his finger of a needle used in a patient's abscess.
