Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1899-08-02
AULD LANG SYNE
SOME PERSONAL RECOL-
LECTIONS OF INCIDENTS
AND MEN YEARS AGO.
BY AN OLD STAGER.

-
the medical men whom we first
knew more intimately were John
Lake, Matthew w. Abney and
John O. Nicholson. DR.. Lake did
an extensive practice and was uni
versally admired. He was genial,
PLAIN, intelligent, jocular and was
noted FOR his moderate medical
bills. One of the jokes that he
loved to tell on himself was that
when he was an unmarried man
and on a courting expedition, he
went fishing with the young ladies
of the home she was visiting and
in moving about the banks of the
creek he slipped into the water and
got his boots well soaked. (every
man wore high heeled boots in that
day. so upon returning to the
home of the young ladies their
mother insisted upon the doctor
taking off his wet socks to dry and
putting on a dry pair, but he would
not be persuaded to change his
socks by any means. The reason
was, which they did not know, he
did not wear socks on that occa-
sion.
Physicians in that time rode
horseback altogether and carried
their medicines in cases which
hung across the saddle on which
they sat. The doctor nearly al
ways rode in a gallop, be the dis
tance long or short, assigning as a
reason he wanted to reach his des-
tination so as to let his horse rest.
IL few years, he and Abney
formed a partnership and practiced
together for length of time-in-
deed until the former retired from
the active practice Of his profess
sion. Contemporaneous with these
practitioners in Edgefeld county
were Drs. Harwood and VIM, Burt,
John ,,Landrum, - Simpson,
Ephraim Andrews, Thos. Lake,
Washington Geiger, John G. Will
llams, W. S. Mobley, J. G. Ready,
George Yarbrough, W. D. Jen-
nings, Sri, and Jacob Hotter, and
perhaps others whom we do not
now recall. All of them were
reputable physicians with extern
sive fields of practice. Of that
number Lake, Mobley, Nicholson,
Landrum, Jennings and Tompkins
were honored with seats in the
house of representatives of our
State. Of a later period, appeared
various other members of the pro-
fession, to wit: W. B. and 81. A.
and John CA. Shaw, w. B. Sam
uel, J, W. Pitts, L. M: Asbill, John
R. Mobley, George Trotter, A. S.
Dozier, A. P. West, - Patterson,
A. w. Youngblood, Abner and T.
J. Teague, - Lewis, D. G. Tomp-
kins, O. w. Allen, Elbert Bland,
distinguished alike for his skill as
physician and surgeon and gallan-
trv as an officer in the Confederate
war, and J. w. Hill, once a part
ner of Dr.. Bland, and who has the
honor of being the only surgeon in
our county who ever performed
successfully the C@sarian opera
tion.
Sheppard, of Saluda side, Thos.
J. McKie, once president of the
State Medical Association, R. e.
McKie, Jos. H. Jennings, John c.
Lanier. H. r. Cook, J. C. w. Ken
nerly, W. H. Zimmerman, S. G.
Mobley, - Chiles, - Sloan,
R. c. Mason, W. S. Sheppard, J.
H. strom, S. W. NICHOLSON, John
B. Abney and John Abney, Sam T
Brunson and Sam C Brunson, kins-
men, both of the latter two dying
of pulmonary consumption il the
zenith of their usefulness. Of the
names mentioned two, John G. A.
Shaw and John R!rAbney, who
were members of the 18th S. G. ",
lost their lives in the Confederate
service by Yankee bullets. Of this
latter number Hugh A. Shaw, L.
M. Asbill, Zimmerman and Strom
have been honored with positions
of political preferment. We would
be glad to pay tribute to the hon
orable and useful lives of a num-
Der of those who have passed into
the spirit land, and all save eleven
of this array of names are gone to
that land, but 1t is not the pur-
pose of this communication to
compass that desirable end. We
can only hope that the young men