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The subject of this sketch. Dr. Albert Vander Veer, has attained a prominence in his profession which places him far along in the ranks of its recognized leaders. He was born in the village of Leatherville, town of Root, Montgomery county, N. Y., July 10, 1841. His father was an energetic and successful business man, whose tanneries gave the name to the place.
Dr. Vander Veer's early education was received at the public schools of Canajoharie and Palatine, and at the Canajoharie Academy. When eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine with the late Dr. Simeon Snow, of Currylown, N. Y. Alter a year's work on the rudiments he came to Albany and entered the office of the late Dr. John Swinburne. During the years 1861 and 1862 he attended the lectures of the Albany Medical College, from which so many physicians of prominence have been graduated. In the spring of 1862 he became one of the original "one hundred," was commissioned as a United States Medical Cadet, and ordered to report for duty at Columbia College Hospital, Washington, D. C. While at this post he attended a course of lectures at the National Medical College, from which institution he received the degree of doctor of medicine in December, 1863, afterward receiving the same degree from the Albany Medical College. After graduation Dr. Vander Veer was commissioned assistant surgeon of the Sixty-sixth Regiment, New York State Volunteers, and joined his regiment at Falmouth, Va., just after the first battle of Fredericksburg. During and after the battle of Chancellorsville, he was detailed as one of the surgeons in charge of an operating table at the 1st Division, Second Army Corps Hospital, having as his assistants men much older than himself, but who were not accustomed to surgical work. In June, 1864, Dr. Vander Veer was promoted surgeon with the rank of major. He served with his regiment until the close of the war and was mustered out September, 1865. Undoubtedly the extensive practice in surgery he obtained during this period largely influenced him to make that his life work.
Upon returning to New York he attended a full course of lectures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and in the spring of 1866 established himself in Albany as a general practitioner. In July, 1869, he was called to the chair of general and special anatomy in the Albany Medical College, and was also appointed attending surgeon Albany Hospital. At this time he became attending surgeon to St. Peter's Hospital. Several of our leading literary institutions now gracefully recognized his intellectual qualities by the bestowment of their honors. In 1883 Williams College gave him the degree of A. M., and in 1883 Hamilton and Union Colleges that of Ph.D.
In January, 1882, he was appointed professor of surgery in the Albany Medical College and at the present time is professor of Didactic, Abdominal and Clinical Surgery. He has given much time and study to the advancement of this institution, in which he has a keen interest. On the death of Dr. Thomas Hun, in 1896, Dr. Vander Veer was appointed Dean of the Faculty of the Albany Medical College, an honor worthily bestowed.
He has spent several months, at various times, in earnest study abroad, visiting the great centres of medical instruction, where he watched with absorbing interest the brilliant operations of renowned surgeons and specialists. During his last sojourn in Europe he was accompanied by his wife, formerly Miss Margaret E. Snow, daughter of his old preceptor, and his eldest son Edgar. While in England he was entertained by Mr. Lawson Tait, whose fame as a surgical specialist is known all over the world. During this trip he also read a paper before the International Medical Congress at Copenhagen.
In addition to being a very active working member, and ex-president of both the County and State Medical Societies, Dr. Vander Veer is also a member of the Boston Gynecological Society, the British Medical Association, the Southern Surgical and Gynecological Association, an active memberof the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, an ex-president, one of the executive officers of the Pan-American Medical Congress, having attended the recent meeting in Mexico and presented a paper. He is also vice-president of the Holland Society of New York, Albany Branch, and has had conferred upon him the order of "Oranje-Nassau" by the Queen of Holland. Dr. Vander Veer is also a member of the Military Order of the Legion of the United States. He has recently been appointed a delegate to the Loyal British Medical Association at Montreal.
As the power to grant certificates to physicians and surgeons educated in New York State is entirely in the bands of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, the medical profession were naturally interested in having a proper representative of their profession in the board; therefore, the election of Dr. Vander Veer as a Regent of the University in 1895 was hailed with great pleasure by his many friends, not only in this locality but in the neighboring counties. Since his election he has still continued to be, as he was previously, an earnest advocate of higher education in each and every profession.
To all of these duties he gives some portion of his time systematically divided. In addition he is busily at work every possible moment upon his college lectures or gathering in writing the results of his varied surgical experiences for the benefit of his professional brethren.
Among the subjects upon which Dr. Vander Veer has lectured or written are the following, most prominent and recent:— "Some Personal Observations on the Work of Lawson Tait," "The Use of the Curette in Uterine Surgery," "Uterine Hemorrhage, Puerperal and Non-Puerperal," "Management of Cancer in the Uterus, Complicated with Pregnancy, with Report of a Case," "Hystero-Epilepsy, with Report of Cases," "Retro-Peritoneal Tumors; Their Anatomical Relations, Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment," "Tubercular Peritonitis," "Report of Cases of Cholecystotomy with Special Reference to the Treatment of Calculus Lodging in the Common Duct," "The Relation of the Board of Health to the Public," "Appendicitis, the Relation of the Physician and Surgeon in the Care of Cases," "Comparison Between Perineal and Suprapubic Cystotomy," "The Medico-Legal Aspect of Abdominal Section," "Extra-Uterine Pregnancy," "Fifty Years in the History of the Albany Medical College," "Concealed Pregnancy, Its Relations to Abdominal Surgery," "The Relation of the Abdominal Surgeon to the Obstetrician and Gynecologist," "Intestinal Obstruction," "Report of Cases of Coeliotomy Performed at the Albany Hospital from July 15, 1893, to November 1, 1895," "Report in Abdominal Surgery, Being an Analysis of 145 Operations not Previously Reported, Done Upon the Ovaries, and Uterine Appendages, with Special Remarks as to Preparation of Patient, Place of Operation, Use of Drainage, Treatment and Results," "Report of Seven Cases of Abdominal Surgery in which the Murphy Button was Applied," "Tuberculosis of the Female Genital Organs (Including Tuberculosis of the Kidney)," "Uterine Fibroids Complicated with Pregnancy," etc., etc.
The pressure of increasing professional duties does not prevent Dr. Vander Veer from taking an active interest in municipal aflfairs, and the value of his services as a member of the Board of Health, the Historical and Art Society, etc., is fully recognized. He is also an elder in the First Presbyterian Church.
Whatever of eminence Dr. Vander Veer has attained has been secured by close application, unremitting labor, and a determined following of those inclinations which in his youth led him to choose for his own the responsibilities of the silent profession.
Honored by his associates, beloved and respected by his patients, Dr. Vander Veer's career may well be emulated by all young men who are ambitious to secure for themselves the approval of their fellows and the emoluments which come, of necessity, to the leaders in any profession.