Dr. James Hovey Bullard Family Photo Collection

Dr. Bullard's Office, 1885

Dr. James Hovey Bullard (1856-1933) received his medical degree as a young surgeon from Harvard Medical School in 1880, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After interning at Boston City Hospital, he completed his residency abroad studying modern surgical techniques in Berlin, Paris, Edinburgh, Dublin and London. By 1884, he had moved to California, where he established his medical practice in Anaheim. His patients included Madame Helena Modjeska and the Schmidt, Langenberger, McFadden, Rimpau and Yorba families, among others seeking to benefit from his impressive medical and surgical knowledge. This important collection of photographs, diaries, journals and medical records spans from 1870 to 1933, providing an extensive representation of Anaheim’s early years. 

Dr. Bullard’s collection of pocket diaries and calendar daybooks (1870-1884) record his youth on the Bullard Farm in Holliston, Massachusetts, followed by his student years at Harvard College and School of Medicine, his internship at Boston City Hospital, his surgical residency in Europe, and his travel west from New York to San Francisco via the Panama Isthmus.

Of particular interest are the five detailed ledgers from Dr. Bullard’s early medial practice in Anaheim. These bound accounting style ledgers were used to record medical services rendered by Dr. Bullard from 1885-1896. Dr. Bullard usually charged a nominal fee of 50 cents to $1.50 for services provided from his Anaheim home or office. He also made house calls, riding his trusted horse “Cyclone” to local residences, farms and vineyards. In addition, Dr. Bullard kept more extensive medical records of his regular patients and their families from Anaheim and surrounding areas. Medical records from early pioneer families, such as Dreyfus, DeSoto, Kroeger, Langenberger, McFadden, Melrose, Modjeska, Rimpau, Schmidt, Whiting and Yorba  are well documented as Bullard Winerypatients of Dr. Bullard. This significant collection about early Anaheim is further supplemented by additional family documents including photographs, newspaper articles, ephemera, clothing and various forms of memorabilia. One of the most fascinating photographs in this collection shows Dr. Bullard bottling Zinfandel wine with friends in the yard behind his medical office (ca. 1885).

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