Doctor Jacob Talley Wilhite was a Texas-born medical researcher whose investigations into the rabies virus made him an internationally known and respected expert on that terrifying and 100% fatal virus.
He is buried in a tiny rural cemetery in Southeast Travis County, near the place where he was born. Estate historic marker erected near his grave preserves the memory and reputation of a man who rose from very humble beginnings here in Travis County to advance treatment and diagnosis of rabies worldwide.
The state historic marker reads as follows:
DR. JACOB TALLEY WILHITE
(April 3, 1875 - January 27, 1927)
Born on a farm near this site, Jacob Tally Wilhite received his early education in the public schools of the Willow Springs community. He attended the University of Texas in Austin and taught school in Bastrop County before continuing his studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
Wilhite earned his medical degree in 1903 and served an internship at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston. That same year, he became assistant to the director of the State Lunatic Asylum (now Austin State Hospital). During his tenure there, he began studying rabies and its treatment. The State Legislature appropriated funds for his research in 1904 and Wilhite became director of the new institution, called the Pasteur Institute of Austin, in 1905.
Wilhite's research soon led him to the discovery of a stain to detect rabies in body tissue. He became a leading authority on the disease and was known throughout the world. In 1927 the State Legislature again appropriated funds for the Pasteur Institute for the construction of a new facility at 5th and Trinity streets. Dr. Wilhite contracted influenza and died before its completion, and the building was dedicated in his honor. (1991)"
His tombstone reads as follows:
"DR. J. T. WILHITE
Apr. 3, 1875
Jan. 27, 1927
A life devoted to humanity
Founder of the Pasteur Institute
Austin TX"
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". . .Dr. Jacob Tally Wilhite was indeed a well-known man. Born in 1875 in the tiny town of Willow Springs (renamed Creedmore in 1880) not far from his final resting place, Wilhite spent two years at the University of Texas before entering the state medical school at Galveston. After graduating in 1903 he accepted a one-year internship at John Sealy Hospital. In 1905 Wilhite obtained a position with the Southwest Insane Asylum in San Antonio but shortly thereafter transferred to the State Lunatic Asylum in Austin, where he was named 2nd Assistant Physician. He joined the Travis County Medical Society and in 1909 the American Medical Association.
The term "insanity" has lost popularity over the years and is little-used in modern medical circles. But in Wilhite's day "insanity" was a common illness that almost all physicians routinely faced. This is because of the multitude of infectious and metabolic diseases that can result in pronounced mental changes; diseases which physicians of today are usually able to treat much more effectively than in Wilhite's era. One exception, though, is rabies, a disease that still carries a 100% fatality rate. This is the disease that fascinated Dr. Wilhite. He didn't call it rabies, though, but "hydrophobia," because of the intense aversion to swallowing that affected patients develop. This aversion stems from the severe pharyngitis accompanying the infection; swallowing becomes so painful that sufferers refuse all liquids, not just water.
Within a year of coming to Austin Wilhite and several others founded the Pasteur Institute on the grounds of the State Lunatic Asylum. Wilhite was named director, a position he occupied throughout the remainder of his life. He soon was credited with developing a new method of diagnosing the disease and people fearing exposure began flocking to the institute for a course of preventive vaccination. By 1912 Wilhite reported treating 400 exposed patients annually; seven years later that figure had jumped five-fold. One contemporary report estimated that 80% of presenting patients had truly been bitten by infected animals and therefore concluded that Wilhite annually saved the lives of several hundred people. Another report indicated that only six of 1200 Wilhite patients had actually developed hydrophobia and that each of these six had been bitten at least 20 times. During his 22-year tenure at the Institute, Wilhite treated 12,000 patients, of which only 16 succumbed to rabies.
Indigent Texas residents received Dr. Wilhite's services free; others paid $25 for a full treatment course. All non-residents paid the fee. Wilhite evidently had little interest in financial gain. He reportedly never asked for a raise and never applied for commerical patents regarding his work. He also evidently maintained few records of his research, given that he published no papers and left no organized notes at his death.
In 1927 Wilhite contracted influenza, which developed into bronchopneumonia. He died while undergoing treatment at Seton Infirmary in Austin. A year later Wilhite's Pasteur Institute merged with another state agency to form the Bureau of Laboratories. When the State Department of Public Health (now called the Texas Department of Health) absorbed the agency in 1958, the Pasteur Institute ceased to exist. Dr. Wilhite soon faded from memory but his years of life-saving work deserve our respect."
TRUE: Older Sister Blaster benefited from Doctor Wilhite's work when she (age 3) and a baby raccoon touched hand-to-paw. Although the contact was very gentle, the raccoon's claws were sharp enough to slightly break her skin. As a result, she required a course of rabies shots and treatment that followed Dr Wilhite's regimen. The only artifact of her rabies treatment is raised eyebrows from school nurses who peruse her shot record when changing schools.