Phineas Gage:  Unanswered questions

Aspects of the Phineas Gage case are still obscure because of the very large number of questions about it that need answering.  If you have answers to any of them, I'd be delighted to hear from you.  Use one of the addresses below.

1. Do you know where Phineas Gage grew up?

Possibly on the farm of his mother's parents in Lebanon or East Lebanon, NH.  She, Hannah Trusell Swetland, was the daughter of Roswell Swetland and Hannah Trusell.  I'd like to know whether it was this farm or not and its location.

2. Where did Phineas go to school and how much education did he have?

One imagines that the school was near the Lebanon or East Lebanon farm, but it is possible that he went to school in Grafton, NH, or Enfield, NH, because his paternal grandparents and many of his uncles and aunts lived in those towns.

3. What did Phineas work at before working for a contractor on the Rutland and Burlington Rail Road?

He probably worked on one of the farms belonging to one or other members of his extended family.  He might also have worked in the isinglass (mica) mines in Grafton, NH, and/or on the construction of the Northern Railroad that ran through New Hampshire.  What he did has a bearing on the quality of the work he did on the Rutland and Burlington.

4. Is there a discrepancy between Dr. Harlow describing Phineas as a 'shrewd, smart business man' when he was working for the R&BRR and his relatively lowly status as the foreman of a construction gang?

In the 1850's the term 'business' (and 'business man') was less definite in meaning than today.  One common meaning was 'occupation' or 'employment'-- a sense retained today in such phrases as 'minding one's own business'or 'going about one's business.'  Harlow may have meant only that Phineas was very good ('smart') at his work.
On the other hand, almost all railroad construction work was completed by contracts and sub-contracts.  A foreman might tender for a particular part of the work (e.g. rock blasting) for which someone else had the overall contract (e.g. for a section of the railroad).  Phineas could have been working under such a system and have had to tender for the work, recruit his gang, and pay their wages out of what the contractor allowed.  The 'shrewd, smart business man' may have referred to how well he worked within that system.
As an aside, when the early railroads actually began transporting passengers and freight, they also operated under a sub-contracting system.  Sub-contracting was also quite common in New England factories until almost the end ofthe nineteenth century.

5. What was the weather like in Cavendish on 13th. September, 1848?

Many diaries record that it was cool or even cold in Vermont and in the neighbouring state of New York on that day.  But I have not found a weather record for Cavendish itself.

6. Does anyone have diaries, letters, or newspapers that give accounts of the accident?

The first account to be written for a newspaper was that for the LudlowFree Soil Union, but we know it only from its reprinting in the Boston Post (reproduced on 'Phineas Gage's story').  I very much want to see the original but only a single copy of that newspaper seems to have survived in the whole of the United States, and it is for 9th. January, 1849.  I would be most interested in any other diary, letter, or newspaper accounts that people may have or know about.

7. What role did Dr. E. H. Williams play in treating Gage?

Edward Higginson Williams, MD, of Proctorsville, Vt., was the first physician to reach Gage, and the Williams' family lore has it that it is he who really deserves the credit for Gage's recovery.  Unfortunately, none of the original sources seem to have survived so that I would appreciate anything that might bear on the family's story.  That story, together with some comments of mine, is set out on the Butler family website: http://www.CromwellButlers.com/fam_tree/p_gage.htm

8. During what period did Gage travel and exhibit himself and his iron in Boston, the larger New England towns, and at Barnum's Museum in New York?

In 'Phineas Gage's story' you will see why I believe Phineas would not have been able to go to Boston until late 1849 (and we know he was there in the November) and to commence intensive travel until some time in 1850.  We also know he commenced work for Jonathan Currier in Hanover, NH, early in 1851.  But no one seems to have recorded seeing him in between.  (Or at any other time for that matter!).

9. Was the man who went to Chile to found a coachline and took Gage with him named James McGill?  Are there any other candidates?

In 1860 a James McGill then living in Valparaiso bought a Concord coach, like that pictured below on the Santiago-Valparaiso route, from the manufacturers, the Abbott-Downing Company of Concord, NH.  It could have been an addition to or a replacement coach for a line he had established in Chile late in 1852.  And, does anyone know where this illustration appeared originally?  (Click on the image for an enlarged view)

10. Did Phineas work for the same employer for the whole of the time he was in Chile?

Phineas spent nearly seven years in Chile and the answer to the question would help establish how settled or otherwise he was in his work.

11. Does anyone have a document of any kind that announces or records the phrenological lecture tours of New England, especially of Vermont, made by Nelson Sizer and Phineas Lyman Buell from 1842 on?

Like many New England medical practitioners of the day, Dr. Harlow was much influenced by phrenological teachings.  Sizer and Buell claimed to know Harlow well enough to have to have lectured under his auspices before Gage's accident, and to have discussed Gage's case with him later.  It also seems to have been from Harlow, through them, that knowledge ofthe changes in Gage's behaviour was first published (in the AmericanPhrenological Journal).  I would be interested to have some confirmationof their relation to Harlow.

My addresses:
Prof. Malcolm Macmillan, School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood.3125. Victoria. Australia.
Tel: + 61 3 9244 6846 or 6859; Fax: + 61 3 9244 6858
E-mail: malcolm.macmillan@deakin.edu.au