Dr. Timothy Field Allen was a hardworking and determined personality. However, his talents and interests were not limited to only the medical profession. He was an allopathic physician who later turned to the principle of Similia. He was a firm believer in Homoeopathy and known to be of an enthusiastic temperament. These were some of the many qualities that helped him reach heights in the homoeopathic fraternity.His contributions to homoeopathic literature are richly endowed with qualities that are valued by all. As one of the biographers commented about him, “The homoeopathic practice of medicine has no more learned and able exponent than Timothy Field Allen. By teaching and example, he has impressed his own practical views and methods upon his generation, and his authority is as highly respected as his skill as a physician and surgeon is universally acknowledged.”
Early life
Dr. T.F. Allen was born on 24th April 1837 in Westminster. He received valuable elementary education and took an undergraduate course at Massachusetts’ Amherst College, graduating in 1858. His father Dr. David Allen was also a well-known physician who practised for more than fifty years in Westminster. Dr. T.F. Allen graduated from the University of New York in 1861 where he attended lectures in the Medical Department and got the degree of A.M. in 1863.
His medical practice started in Brooklyn in 1861 as an allopathic physician. He then enrolled as a Surgeon, participating in the Civil War. He was stationed at Point Lookout, from where he resigned after serving for one year.
In 1862, he got married to Miss Julia Bissell, of Litchfield, Connecticut and had five children of which only two survived.
Homoeopathic Journey
Initially he was treating all his cases as per the allopathic method. Allen’s experience with Homoeopathy started when he partnered with Dr. Carroll Dunham and worked with him for two years. After this partnership, he further studied under Dr. P.P. Wells of Brooklyn, New York and started practicing Homoeopathy strictly.
His interaction with Dr. P.P. Wells is interesting. It was during his practice in Brooklyn when an epidemic of Diphtheria broke out and he was losing patients under him. Dr. P.P. Wells suggested he try Lachesis mutus 200, by which he saw remarkable recovery of most of the patients. This experience made him a follower of Dr. P.P. Wells.
He then enrolled at the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia and took a Diploma from that Institution in 1865 for a formal education of Homoeopathy.
As a teacher he taught various subjects in different institutions. In 1867 he started teaching Anatomy at New York Homoeopathic College as a Professor. He also became the Professor of Therapeutics and Materia Medica in the same College by 1871 and taught there for a long time.
He later became the president of New York Homoeopathic College and managed getting half-million-dollar grant from Roswell P. Flower for the hospital. This grant was used to build an Annex to the college which later became the Flower Fifth Avenue Hospital.
He had also taught as a Professor of Chemistry in New York Medical College for Women in 1866.
Literary Contributions
He contributed to articles in various journals, but probably his most famous work has been the “Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica.” This work of Dr. T.F. Allen took more than 10 years to compile, which was a complete record of homoeopathic drug proving. This compilation was published in 10 volumes from 1874 to 1879 and contains inputs from Drs. Hering, Dunham, Lippe and Hughes. These huge volumes were offered by subscription. It is said that 500 subscriptions were paid in advance to ensure each volume’s publication. A fire destroyed all the printed versions of 2nd, 4th and 9th volumes of this book in 1879 and they were re-printed.
He also authored A Handbook of Materia Medica, Primer of Materia Medica, a revised edition of Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic Pocket Book and Ophthalmic Therapeutics for treating eye diseases. He even published the American Herbarium which was the result of his botanical studies. He was also associated with the editorship of the New York Journal of Homoeopathy, with Dr. William T. Helmuth.
Other Interests
Apart from teaching various subjects in different colleges, Dr. T.F. Allen was also a Surgeon at the New York Ophthalmic Hospital. He later converted this hospital into a Homoeopathic Hospital.
He donned many hats as he also served in several medical, scientific, literary, and social societies and bodies such as The Toney Botanical Club where he was the Vice-President, The New York County Society where he was the President. He was a member of other organisations such as The Lyceum of Natural History, The Buffalo Academy of Natural Sciences, The State Society and American Institute, the Board of Directors of the New York Botanical Gardens and a Corresponding member of The Portland of Natural History. He was also the Secretary of The Hahnemann Academy of Medicine and nominated by the Senate of the State of New York as Director of the New York State Homoeopathic Insane Asylum, at Middleton, New York. All the above roles were carried by him responsibly and undoubtedly left a mark in all these fields.
Along with this literary expertise, he had a remarkable interest in music. He devoted himself in composing an extensive collection of manuscript music, all while pursuing his medical education and serving as an organist at the Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn. Remarkably, he maintained a delicate balance between his studies and his passion for music. Furthermore, he applied his musical talents in a similar role at the Fourteenth Street Presbyterian Church.
A Passionate Personality
Dr. T.F. Allen was one of the few professional men with a strong work ethic who was ever energetic. He was equally engrossed in his medical profession and literary contributions along with his other interests. He was known to take up lesser-explored ideas or theories and bring them into better comprehensible forms. He was known to be an “original force” and whenever he took up a new interest, no barrier was too high for him to overcome his strength to achieve it. His life is an admirable example to budding homoeopaths to consistently put in the effort and energy required to excel in their life.
Demise
He passed away in the year 1902, on 5th December at the age of 65 years.
Author
Dr Subhas Singh1, Dr Rumsha Tamkeen2, Dr Jyotidarshanee2, Dr Vaishnavi Achrekar2, Dr Binay P. Singh2.
- Director, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata
- PGT, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata
