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Dr. Henry L. Orth – Superintendent of State Hospital for Insane
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on December 3, 2019
During the Civil War, Henry L. Orth served as a medical cadet with the U. S. Army, and as such, came into contact with many wounded and dying soldiers. After the war, he pursued a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania and then returned to his native Harrisburg to practice medicine. In his role as surgeon for the Northern Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, he came into contact with many Lykens Valley veterans and their families. When the post-war pension requirement were relaxed, he served as president of the board of pension examiners in Harrisburg. His last position was as Superintendent of the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Asylum at Harrisburg. Although he had no direct connection to the Lykens Valley area, he was well-known because of his work with the railroad, with the pension bureau, and as superintendent of the state hospital.
When he died on 18 May 1920, the Harrisburg Evening News published an obituary which chronicled his career:
DR. H. L. ORTH
27 YEARS HEAD OF THE STATE HOSPITAL, DIES
Dr. Henry L. Orth, for many years Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane, died at his residence, 206 Pine Street, this morning after an illness of a week. He was 78 years old and resigned as head of the asylum several years ago.
Dr. Orth had not been in good health for some time and returned from St. Augustine, Florida, the last of April, having spent the winter there. He was ill about a week and heart trouble was the cause of his death.
The survivors are his widow, Elizabeth Dixon, a cousin of the late Dr. Samuel Dixon, former State Health Commissioner; one son, Edward L. Orth, Cohoes, New York; and two daughters, Miss Anna S. D. Orth and Miss Roberta E. Orth, of this city [Harrisburg]. One brother, J. Wilson Orth, of Pittsburgh, survives. Dr. Orth was a member of Market Square Presbyterian Church. Arrangements for the funeral have been deferred until the arrival of his son.
Dr. Orth was the son of Dr. Edward L. Orth, who practiced medicine here from 1834, when he was graduated from Jefferson Medical College, to the time of his death in 1861. Dr. Orth, the son, was educated in the public schools and the Harrisburg Academy and went to Yale College in 1859. He remained there until 1861, when, at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was appointed acting medical cadet in the regular service, in which he remained until 1865. In May 1866, he was graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania and shortly afterward he located here.
In 1866 he was appointed surgeon of the Northern Central Railroad and in 1873, surgeon of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company here. In 1873 he was appointed visiting surgeon of the Harrisburg Hospital and from that year to 1884 he was president of the board of United States Pension Surgeons in this city.
In 1889 he was appointed a trustee of the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital in this city and on August 28, 1891, he was elected superintendent and physician in charge, a position he held until 1918, when he resigned.
Dr. Orth was a member of the International Medical Congress, held in 1876 and 18886, and a members and a delegate from Pennsylvania in 1893. He was a former president of the State Medical Society of Pennsylvania and a secretary and president of the Dauphin County Medical Society.
He was one of the organizers of the Harrisburg Club in 1884 and was then elected a member of the governing committee, and later president. He also helped to organize the Inglenook Club, of which he was president for several years, and was a member of the Harrisburg County Club.
Dr. Orth married Elizabeth Bridgeman Dixon, of Wilmington, Delaware, June 30, 1968.
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News clipping from Newspapers.com.
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