Alexander S. von Mansfelde

Alexander Siedschlag von Mansfelde was born in Neumark, in the province of Brandenburg, Prussia (Germany), on December 21, 1845, the son of Herman and Augusta (Tapp) von Mansfelde. The von Mansfelde family came to America on October 12, 1862, and settled in Chicago. Shortly after that, the family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Herman and Augusta spent their remaining years.

Von Mansfelde was partially educated in Germany before coming to the United States. He was employed with the wholesale and retail pharmacists at Meyer Brothers in Fort Wayne and then worked for H. B. Reed and Company, a drug company in Fort Wayne. His work for drug companies led to an interest in medicine. Von Mansfelde began to study medicine under Drs. A. B. Hunt and B. S. Woodworth in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 1863 to 1866. He went to Chicago in 1866 and entered Rush Medical College, graduating in 1872.

He came to Nebraska in March 1875 to perform an operation. He liked what he saw in the state, and in September 1875, he formed a partnership with Dr. G. W. French and moved to Lincoln. He quickly joined the Lancaster County and Nebraska State Medical Societies. Dr. von Mansfelde sought legislation to elevate the standards of the practice of medicine in the state of Nebraska. When the question of medical education in Nebraska was brought up in September 1880, he was one of the most active in promoting the Nebraska School of Medicine organization and was secretary of the preliminary meetings. The school was reorganized and became the Omaha Medical College (predecessor of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine) in 1881.

During his long career, von Mansfelde served as president of the Nebraska Medical Society (1894), the Missouri Valley Medical Society (1897), and the Nebraska Academy of Sciences (1897), and he organized the Nebraska Railroad Surgeons Society. His career included the practice of medicine and lecturer at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, from 1875-1878; the practice of medicine in Lincoln, Nebraska, 1878-1928; medical practice in Ashland, Nebraska, 1881-1885; and professor of Pathology and Histology at the Omaha Medical College in 1881.

His medical and public health contributions included being a dominant figure in organized medicine in Nebraska, either drafting or sponsoring many Nebraska statutes affecting health and medical practice in the state. He held influence in national health-related legislation as well. He wrote numerous articles on various subjects for medical journals and the medical community throughout the country. He experimented with an African plant for twenty years to help tuberculosis patients. He was elected mayor of Ashland, Nebraska, in 1894.

Von Mansfelde married Julia Labhart on October 22, 1868, and they had five children: Charles (who died in 1903), Josephine, Belle, Judy, and Alice. Julia died in January 1916, and in May 1917, von Mansfelde married Sylvia A. Butts; they had no children.

Von Mansfelde died in June 1928 at the age of 82. His second wife, Sylvia, and his four daughters survived him.