In the July of 1899, Robert Stubblefield of Mt Hope Township was riding his horse when it stumbled, causing him to fall to the ground. He was unconscious for several days and his family must have feared for his life. His physical condition did improve, but his mental faculties were impaired. At times, he would become violent and have to be restrained. This series of events led up to March of 1900, when Dr. C. M. Noble decided that he should be sent for x-rays to determine his exact condition.
In Chicago, where he received x rays, it was determined that there was a skull fracture. He was returned to Bloomington, where a trepanning of the skull took place. Trepanning is a procedure in which a section of the skull is cut and removed to release pressure that is building on the brain and causing illness. The procedure was performed by Dr. E. Mammen (picture from 1896) and C.M. Noble at the Deaconess Hospital. A three inch circular piece of the skull was cut. Although the skull appeared undamaged from the exterior, it was found that it was fragmented on the interior and causing pressure. The excised part of the skull was then shaved down to be perfectly smooth and replaced. Mr. Stubblefield withstood the surgery well. He was a 28 year old man, and they hoped for the best after such a delicate surgery.
William Stubblefield survived the surgery and went on to live the life of an ordinary McLean County farmer. He was noted in the paper to have sent a team to help harvest the crops of a sick neighbor, to have helped a deputy arrest two men, and to have taken his wife to a Shriners dance. In 1913, he travelled to Montana to take part in a land auction of "indian" reservation land. While there, the men planned to visit Yellowstone. He died in 1933, with no mention being made of his notable surgery. He had only one daughter, Wilda Jean. His wife died one year earlier.
Dr. Earnest Mammen came to McLean County from Jever, Germany as a young man. He completed his high school education in Minonk, then attended ISNU and Rush Medical College. He completed further medical studies in Europe as well. In McLean County he was instrumental in establishing Brokaw Hospital and Fairview Sanitarium. After retiring from active practice, he visited China for two years, lecturing at the medical college in Shanghai. He died in 1937 at home. He was survived by his wife, Sarah Parks, and five children.