In 1824, two young eye surgeons named John Jeffries and Edward Reynolds established a charitable eye clinic in Boston. Soon they began to treat ear diseases as well, and by the end of the nineteenth century, their small clinic had evolved into the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a nationally recognized specialty institution. In 1900, Dr. Frederick Verhoeff, Mass. Eye and Ear's first full-time researcher/pathologist, established the first eye pathology laboratory in the United States and successfully established an endowed research department at Mass. Eye and Ear.