Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 477-479; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Dr. Reamer A. Saunders, a wealthy and popular citizen of Avon,
was for many years one of the foremost physicians in this county; his
learning, his extensive knowledge of medicine, and his marked success
in the skillful treatment of disease in its various forms placing him
at the head of his profession. After an active practice of thirty-five
years he was obliged to retire on account of an injury he received that
incapacitated him for the further exercise of his noble calling.
Besides attending to his duties as a physician the Doctor has been
identified with the agricultural interests of this part of the State as
a farmer and druggist, and he has been greatly prospered as a business
man, has acquired wealth, is a large owner of real-estate, and is one
of the leading men of Fulton County in financial as well as in social
circles.
Abraham and Sarah (Kimes) Saunders, parents of our subject, were
among the early settlers of the county, locating in what is now known
as Farmington in the fall of 1834, and their names will ever be
cherished among those of the honored pioneers of Illinois who aided in
laying the solid foundation of its prosperity and present high standing
as one of the first States of the Union.
Dr. Saunders was a boy of thirteen when he came with his father
and mother from the place of his birth in Meigs County, Ohio, where he
was born May 8, 1821, amid pioneer surroundings. He assisted his father
in the work of developing the tract of wild prairie in Farmington
Township into a well-improved farm, working hard on the old homestead
until he was twenty-one, with seldom ever a holiday to break the
monotony of a farmer's life. In his boyhood days his education was only
such as the district schools afforded, and he had an intense desire to
increase it, having scholarly tastes and being a lover of books, and
after he attained his majority he proceeded to gratify his ambition. He
first took one term of an academic course at Galesburg, and then
returning to his native Ohio, he attended the Gallopolis Academy one
term. Wishing to enter the medical profession, for which he had a
natural taste, he returned to his home in Farmington, and in the winter
of 1843-'44, read medicine with Dr. Christie. After that he had the
benefit of one term of lectures in the State University of St. Louis,
Mo., in the winter of 1844-'45. Coming back to this county, he pursued
his studies in Canton under the instruction of Dr. Davidson, remaining
with him until the spring of 1846. he then entered upon his career as a
physician, establishing himself at Greenbush, in Warren County. He did
not, however, abandon his studies, although a steadily growing practice
kept him quite busy, and in the winter of 1848-'49 he again became a
student in the University of St. Louis, where he attended an advanced
course of lectures and received his diploma. He resumed his practice in
Greenbush, but he still thirsted for greater knowledge of his
profession, and in 1855 he went to New York to avail himself of the
superior advantages to be derived in studying under the eminent
physicians that were connected with the University of Medicine in that
city, and he gained great profit by attendance at a course of lectures
in that institution.
The Doctor continued to administer relief to the sick people of
Greenbush and the surrounding country until the fall of 1859, and
having been successful financially as well as otherwise, he then
invested some of his funds in a farm in Berwick Township, Warren
County, and taking up his abode thereon, combined farming with his
practice, which he had wished to abandon, but his old neighbors and
patients would not allow him to do so, such was their confidence in his
skill and learning. In August, 1861, he offered his services to his
country, enlisting in Company E, Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, under
Col. Hovey. Then Thirty-third was known as the "Normal Regiment," as it
was composed almost entirely of students and professionals. Our subject
did noble work while he was connected with the army, but the hardships
and privations that he had to endure undermined his health, and at the
end of five month's service he was discharged on account of disability.
After he left the army Dr. Saunders returned to his farm, and in
1872 took up his residence in Avon, and in 1873 he made a six months'
tour of England, Scotland, France, Belgium, and Holland. On returning
he bought a stock of drugs and opened a store in Avon in connection
with his practice. He managed it for about a year, and at the
expiration of that time moved to Galesburg in January, 1876. In the
winter of 1878-'79 he went to the South. In the following spring he
located on one of his farms in Warren County, on which he lived two
years, and then once more returned to dwell in Avon. In the spring of
1881 he received an injury, which precluded his further practice of his
profession.
In the spring of 1885 our subject took a new departure, and we
find him pleasantly situated in Riverside, Cal., where he became
extensively interested in orange culture, setting out an orange grove
of five acres, which he had in bearing in three years. In the spring of
1890 he revisited Avon temporarily to superintend the erection of a
fine residence, to cost about $5,000, in which he intends to make his
home summers, while he will continue to pass his winters in California.
He is a man of high personal standing, being well known and honored
throughout this and other counties. He is a gentleman of wide
experience and varied information, and his wit, his geniality, and
other pleasant social qualities make him a favorite in social circles
wherever he may be. In politics he is a Republican, but has never
allowed the use of his name for office.
Dr. Saunders is happy in his domestic relations, as by his
marriage in the month of November, 1846, with Miss Mary Ann
Kirkpatrick, he secured the companionship of one who fills in a perfect
measure the positions of wife, mother and friend. Their union has been
blessed by the birth of three children, two of whom are dead. Their
daughter, Juliet was born in 1848 and died in infancy; Sarah Marinda,
born in 1850, married in 1870, and died in 1879, in the month of April,
leaving one son. Her husband, Robert Johnson, died in 1885. One
daughter, Clara E., born February 7, 1854, remains to comfort the
declining years of her parents. The family are valued members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
