Photo caption: Western side and front of the Dr. J. R. Mosier Office, located on the grounds of the Baldwin-Reynolds House in Meadville, Pennsylvania, United States. Built in 1890 and moved to this location in the twentieth century, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
ABOUT DR J.R. MOSIER
Dr. J. Russell Mosier was the epitome of the country doctor, a role that’s hard to fathom given today’s sophisticated and rapid methods for administering medical care. For over 50 years, Dr. Mosier or “Doc” practiced medicine, most of that time from his tiny office in Littles Corners.
The “Doc” was widely remembered in the area for many good deeds, including his combat against the influenza epidemic of the World War I era. During his many trips to the hospitals in Meadville, Dr. Mosier was asked to treat the city’s German immigrants who couldn’t speak English because he was fluent in German. But it’s his work as an obstetrician for which he is best known, having delivered some 2500 babies during a career that started in the early 1880s.
Born in 1855 in Cussewago township, where his parents had settled after migrating from the
Alsace-Lorraine area of Europe, Doc Mosier went east to finish his medical studies at the University of Maryland. He returned to begin his practice in the vicinity of the town of Rundle. Later he purchased a property in Littles Corners from his wife’s uncle, Dr. M. Boyd.
The white office building, constructed in 1888, wasn’t much bigger than a single-car garage, and it wasn’t impressive by any standards. Inside, however, the original furnishings and setting tell a wonderful story of his long career. But his little office building was not the only place where the doctor treated his patients. A look at his medical records would reveal many housecalls in an eight-mile radius of Littles Corners.
For his travels, he relied upon several strong and dependable horses to pull his buggy or cutter. His trusted “Lady'” was one mare who could be counted upon to cross the nearby creek whenever it swelled beyond its banks. Even after he had purchased a White Steamer automobile in 1909 he still found a good horse indispensable when rain and snow turned the roads into quagmires. And what better company was there on those occasions when a blinding snowstorm would leave the doctor stranded or lost than a trustworthy horse.
Few people still remember Doc Mosier and fewer still understand the importance of the country doctor to rural communities. The Dr. Mosier Office Museum is a tiny piece of history that reminds visitors of both.
ABOUT THE MOSIER OFFICE
Originally located in the village of Littles Corners, 7 miles northwest of Meadville, the building was moved to the Baldwin-Reynolds House property in 1975. The following year, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the office is maintained as a medical museum by the Crawford County Historical Society. Inside, visitors will be treated to a medical time capsule from 1938, with a fully furnished waiting room, examination room, and pharmacy just as it was the day Dr. Mosier left it the day he passed away.