Figure 1. Microscope slides from Charles H. Cockey. Both were obtained in a collection from an early California amateur microscopist, among other slides that are datable to the 1870s.
Charles Henry Cockey, 1844 - 1904
by Brian Stevenson
last updated April, 2024
C.H. Cockey, M.D. was an amateur microscopist, in the sense that he exchanged microscope slides with other enthusiasts across the USA, and a professional in the sense that he prepared slides for his medical studies and taught histological methods to medical students. Consistent with his occupation, known slides by Cockey are histological preparations, and are of very good quality.
Figure 1.
Microscope slides from Charles H. Cockey. Both were obtained in a collection from an early California amateur microscopist, among other slides that are datable to the 1870s.
Figure 2.
“Stomach of pigeon”, prepared ca. 1870s by C.H. Cockey. Imaged with a 3.5x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.
Figure 3.
“Softened tooth”, prepared ca. 1870s by C.H. Cockey. Imaged between crossed polarizing filters with a 3.5x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.
Charles Henry Cockey was born on July 4, 1844, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the sixth (at least) child of Edward and Rebecca Cockey. Father Edward was a teacher.
Charles was educated at Baltimore City College. He then attended medical school at the University of Maryland, receiving his M.D. in 1867.
During medical school, he married Amelia W Henkel, on November 2, 1863. The couple had four children over the next nineteen years.
After completing his M.D., Cockey worked as an Instructor of Microscopy at the University of Maryland Medical College. In 1869, he became Professor of Microscopy and Diseases of the Throat, Nose, and Chest at Baltimore University. Around 1877, Cockey also took on the position of Principal of Baltimore Public School 18.
I have not found evidence of Charles Cockey joining a microscopical society, or advertising to exchange his materials. However, he was regularly listed in The Naturalists’ Directory / The Scientists’ International Directory, a series of books with addresses through which science enthusiasts could connect with each other. The 1892 issue included, “Cockey, Charles H., M.D., Ph.D., 21 N. Gilmor St., Prof. Mic., Balt. Univ. School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. Histol. Ex. in other branches of microscopy”.
Cockey periodically sent tips to amateur microscopy and professional medical journals, such as his 1880 articles on making one’s own bottle for storing and applying mounting media and on building an apparatus for injecting histological tissues, and an 1889 article on preserving urinary casts.
In 1883, Cockey was elected to membership in the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland.
Charles H. Cockey died at the age of 60 on November 19, 1904, of heart failure.
Resources
The Aegis & Intelligencer (1904) Obituary: Dr. Charles H. Cockey
Cockey, Charles H. (1880) Mounting bottle, The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, page 139
Cockey, Charles H. (1880) Injecting apparatus, The American Monthly Microscopical Journal, pages 198-199
Cockey, Charles H. (1889) How to preserve urinary casts, Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 12, page 342
Cockey, Charles H. (1895) application to join the Sons of the American Revolution, accessed through ancestry.com
Cordel, Eugene Fauntleroy (1903) “Cockey, Charles Henry. 1883. Born at Baltimore, July 4, 1844. Educated at the City College; M.D., University of Maryland, 1867; Instructor in Microscopy, University of Maryland, for three years: Professor of Microscopy and Diseases of the Throat, Nose and Chest, Baltimore University, for several years; Principal, Grammar School No. 18 for twenty-six years. 211 North Gilmor Street, Baltimore”, The Medical Annals of Maryland, 1799-1899, page 357
Find-a-Grave (accessed April, 2024) Dr. Charles H. Cockey, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22564206/charles-henry-cockey
The International Scientists’ Directory (1888) Cassino, Boston, page 33
The Journal of the American Medical Association (1904) “Charles H. Cockey, M.D. University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1867, for three years instructor in microscopy in that institution, died at his home in Baltimore, November 19”, Vol. 43, page 1713
Maryland Medical Journal (1883) Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, Vol. 10, pages 40-42
The Naturalists’ Directory (1884) Cassino, Boston, page 26
The Naturalists’ Directory (1895) Cassino, Boston, page 351
The Scientists’ International Directory (1882) Cassino, Boston, page 44
The Scientists’ International Directory (1892) Cassino, Boston, page 44
US census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com