Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1919-04-05

arc perceived as by intuition, to
realize which others must dig and
delve and agonize in brain sweat.
IIo travels with such celebrity rs to
distance oil competitors, and ere they
have reached the coveted goal he Ia
there ahead and dreaming of future
triumphs.
Such IS the subject whom in this
sketch l wish to Introduce to tho
Negro reading public-Dr. John
Henry Pinkard, OF Roanoke, Virgin
In. From College nor High School
does no bear Il diploma; yet he has
studied Anatomy, Physiology, Path
ology, Chemistry, Therapeutics. Bot
any. Materia Modica, etc. His Alma
Matters, however, have boon chiefly
Fleld and Forest.
1io Is no conjurer or hoodoo man.
He scorns to DO mentioned In connec-
ton with those who practice the
black arts. He Is Real Medicine
Man, manufacturing from roots,
barks, leaves, buds, flowers and
shrubs his own remedies In forms 80
potent and enicacious as to produce
cures marvellous and astonishing.
Who and what Is DR.. John Henry
Pinkard. whence Is he. and what has
he done and Is doing now to merit
such high encomium?
A son of Sam and Sarah Plnkard
he was born in Franklin County,
Virginia, In 1865. So great were the
poverty and priyations Of tho family,
due to tho improvidence of the father
that at the tender age OF eleven, of
his own volition and against tho
protests Of his mother. Johr became
tho main support tho family. At
fifteen ho Is found on tho Norfolk
and Western r. r., then in course
OF construction, as water boy
After fow months in that capacity
having learned from the Walking
Boss how to read on tho stakes the
, figures Indicating the required grades
| and ono Of the Irish bosses being
called homo, young John Is given a
| gang OF 12 men and put in charge OF
dirt cut, at $2.75 day. An uncle
OF his, quit and went homo rather
| than work. under his youthful ne
phew.
By tho time no is eighteen he has
| purchased for the family a farm
33 acres. which they lost because Of
| defect in the title. Instead of sap
ping his energies in pining over this
|
out to retrieve his fortune and win
his way in the world. With scant
elementary training he enters West
Pom University, Pittsburgh, Pa.
pursues course in medicine.
After practicing ten years in that
! city, because his frail frame could
not stand tho strain Of constant hard
study and n large practice, with
broken body and shattered nerves,
he returns to his native heath, Frank
lin County, Va. to seek recuperation
Hero no began In small way to
manufacture those Botanical Rene
dies that arc making him famous
and opulent. He also manufactures
verv f'no perfume, making his own
odor bases.
At first he put his products on sale
with white wholesale and retail
druggists. Seven years ago, afte,
suffering vicissitudes that would hayc
discouraged and utterly broken the
spirit OF less, determined man, he
moved to his present site and mod.
c'tlv began to make, handle and pro.
scribe his own remedies. His prac.
tico has had y most nhenomena'
Growth and his success has been
leaps and bounds.
Within the last seven years he has
taken in more than two hundred
thousand dollars, and now his wco'
income Is between one thousand and
hftccn hundred dollars. It is no OK
aggeration to say that PERHAPS he
has the LARGEST practice and income
NJ any individual general practitiop.
or In tho State Of Virginia and I risk
nothing. In saying that in all likeIi
hood larrer than that Of anv two
Negro physicians in tho United States
He numbers among his thousands Of
patients persons in all walks of life
and nine-tenths OF them are white
They come to him from all parts
Of the Vtrginias. and an examinatio
OF part OF the records for 1915
discloses the fact that ne had patient.
from at least IL different States and