Doctors

In the early days, parish lines were no barriers and doctors traveled miles in all directions to answer the call of the suffering. Among these was Dr. C. T. Hines of Downsville. who had as many patients in Lincoln as in Union. He was, in 1877, living in the Douglas Community where he was rated as an outstanding: physician. Dr. Hines was a prominent. Mason, and a state lecturer until his death. Dr. Richardson was a partner of Dr. Hines, and like Dr. Hines had a practice in both Lincoln and Union parishes. He died while enroute to visit a seriously patient. A limb was blown from a tree and fell on him. He left a wife and four small children Another well-known figure from Douglas was Dr. J. T. McDowell, who died in the early 1870's. He married Emma Wilson, sister of Carrie Wilson Smith and Joel H. Wilson.  Dr. McDowell was the father of Mrs. Daisy Fought, and Mrs. J. H. Murphy. Dr. and Mrs. McDowell were buried at Douglas. In the same community was a Dr. Martin Smith, who later moved to Ruston. Dr. Smith was famous for his long curly hair which fell to his shoulders and he had a curl across the top of his head. (Rumor had it that Dr. Smith had his wife roll it for him each night) A son Hugh, was also a Doctor.

Among the earliest doctors in Ruston was Dr. Bob Roberts, father of Dr, Frank Roberts, The elder Dr.  Roberts was reared  between Monroe and Downsville in the Walnut Lane Settlement. He married Miss Mollie McCormick of near Sibley. After practicing in Shiloh as a partner of Dr. J. J. Boles  he came to Ruston. There he was prominent in the Methodist Church, and was a member of the Board of Stewards as long as he lived. His son, ,Bob, married Miss Olive Goodwill of Minden and was a prominent lawyer in Shreveport. Charley, also a lawyer lived in Minden. Both men were graduates of Louisiana State University. Two other sons; turned to the farm and were leaders in Lincoln Parish.

 In the early days of Ruston, Dr. McCormick came to town from Trenton and built the Warren house on North Trenton Street He was the father of Mrs. O, M. Wright. Originally from Mississippi, he decided to make Louisiana his home after marriage to a Miss Sholars of Monroe. The McCormicks had two daughters, Fannie May who married a Mr. Wright and Blanche who became an ostopath, married a Dr. Clark and then moved  to Texas. Among the early lot was a young Dr, Jackson, who was rated the most handsome man in town. He married Miss Emma Kidd and had two daughters, Bruce and Mary, The former married Mr. Luther Turrentine. and the latter, Miss. Lockwood Ross. 

Another beloved doctor of this section was Dr. Robert F. Brocks. He was born October 25, 1854, in Union County, Arkansas, but graduated from Louisiana State University, now Tulane, in 1876. There years after graduation he married Miss Frances Robinson of Shiloh,  and they had five children. He practiced there until 1897, then moved to Ruston. He and Dr. Harper were partners, and had their offices upstairs in the building Morgan and Lindsey store now occupies. He. built Stratford Apartment; House for his home. There his son Mr. Bob Brooks, and wife lived with him, and a daughter Frances, was born there. Dr. Brooks was loved for his friendliness, jollity, and long visits. At 57 he was stricken with paralysis and had to give up active practice.

Another physician closely related to the Howards and Brooks was Dr. Lawrence, "who married' Miss Sue Mayfield.  He also graduated from Tulane. His first practiced in Vernon, then in Vienna, and later in Ruston. Perhaps to some he seemed gruff, but he was a kind man and trusted by all people. His hold on his patients was so strong that most of them continued to consult him after his announced retirement from active practice. He had no children.

 One of the Ruston doctors who will long be remembered was Dr. N. B. Null.-- At the age of 16 he ran away and entered the War Between the States. After four years service he returned to Winn Parish and found work in a drug store at Vernon. Here an old doctor manifested a keen interest in him and taught him medicine. Up until the time of this Interest he had only six weeks schooling. So, he went to New Orleans and took a course in pharmacy. He decided to become a physician after his marriage to Miss Margaret Townsend. a half- sister to Mrs. M. E. Graham. She was from Alabama so they went there for a few years. On coming to Ruston was associated with Dr. Lawrence. They were among the first to come into the new town. After Dr. Lawrence retired; he practiced alone. Dr. Null was a self-educated man before he began the study of medicine, and was a chemist of no mean reputation — witness Null's Famous Tree Tonic, a product of his engenderment. One day, when teaching Sunday School, he posed a question to  little Gertie Brown. After emphasizing that each of the children was sent to earth by a Great Creator, he asked little Gertie, "Who brought you into this world?" "You did, came.' the simple reply. He served the parish many years as coroner, and died in 1924 at the age of 82. 

Down through the years, the Harpers have served  faithfully and well. Dr. Thomas Webb Harper was a school teacher until deciding to enter the medical profession at the age of 40. After studying at Memphis he served as a mill doctor at Standard and Olla for 20 years. Due to a palsied condition which followed blood poisoning, he retired and moved to Ruston about 1917. Although not able to be active, .he kept up with his medicine until his death. Dr. Henry, the son of Dr. T. W. Harper, was born in Hico. He graduated from Tulane Medical School in 1908, and began practice in Monroe. He gave up his Monroe practice shortly afterward to join his father at Hico when an epidemic was threatening the community. He later moved to Dubach, and then to Ruston where he practiced for 25 years or more. Here, at first, he was associated with Dr. Brooks. Dr. Harper was married in 1904 to Miss Effie Richardson, of Yazoo, Miss. Two sons were born to this union—Stewart S. Harper and Gordon H. Harper, and two daughters, Mrs. Roy Fraser, and Miss Ethel Harper who became a laboratory technician. Like many other doctors, his books show many uncollected bills: this may be understood best by recalling the words of Dr. Hicks at his funeral: "I knew him in the sickroom; he did not commercialize his profession." With her long line of doctors Ruston had her courtesty and friendliness of The French in Dr. De Say. His right name was Say, but from his love of the French he added the "De." He, too, taught school before becoming a doctor. He then married Miss Sallie Sholars and practiced in Farmerville before coming to Ruston. His three children were Lodi, Carl, and Jeney. Lodi married Mr. Durwood Cann.

In the words of one who knew and loved Dr. William Kendall, he should be preserved for the  future. The friend in his interesting and euphonic style presented him thus. "On March 8, 1844, a tiny craft of human clay, bearing the name, William Samuel Kendall; to which the title doctor was later added, whose cargo was the spirit of one of God's noblemen, was successfully launched on the ocean of time. . At an early age this youthful voyager accepted Christ as his Pilot and united with the Presbyterian Church. The sailing was nor always easy, war clouds gathered, and he enlisted in the 12th Louisiana Infantry, Serving the Confederacy faithfully on the battlefield and in the enemy's prison, where he felt ill of typhoid fever and suffered many privations. He was an active member of the Ruston Camp of Confederate Veterans when he crossed The bar "He began the practice of medicine in 1868. having been graduated from Tulane University on; January 5, I869, he married Miss Sallie Calhoun of Dallas County, Alabama. No children came to bless this union, but his was not a childless home as many as nine orphans were reared in his home and many others were befriended. After the death of his first wife, he married on October 15, 1895, Miss Mary Burt Tooke. Seven children were born of this union, who, with their mother, survived him. . "He was a member of the Masonic Order, was as gentle as a woman, yet courageous; he possessed the soul of a poet, the temperament of an artist, an exquisite sense of humor, and a fund of information gathered from many sources, and often under difficulties, that was encyclopedic in its comprehensiveness, and at the disposal of his friends at any and all times. "He led a simple but useful life and fell at his post of duty on April 11, 1913, while engaged in ministering to the needs of a patient, the silver cord was loosed and the golden bowl broken. The craft had sailed beyond the shores.

Two Ruston Doctors Were Of Weaker Sex

One of the early women in the medical profession in Ruston was Dr. Amanda Taylor wife  of a president of Louisiana Tech, then known as the Louisiana Industrial Institute. Not a pretty woman, she resembled a farm woman more than a Doctor. However she was kind and would cure for all comers. She had one daughter but adopted a baby boy whom she named Worth Ransom, because she thought that he was worth ransoming. She owned the first car in Ruston. While she did not believe in too much medicine, she did have some famous pink pills to prescribe. She also had her patients' drink the water from the Chautauqua wells. Children were urged to wade in the springs to cure the sores on their feet. The story was handed down that once Mr. Taylor took home a bottle of castor oil. and when she severely reprimanded him for having it, he told her that it was for his shoes. Another well known  physician was Dr. Willie Perry Simpson, an osteopath, who came from Illinois to Ruston about the turn of the century. She was an intelligent woman, well read, and perhaps one of the best Students of  the Bible in Lincoln Parish .She  had a son and daughter, Perry and Eleanor who married and moved away, but Doctor Simpson continued her work until her death in Ruston.

Vienna Women Had Their Own Ideas On How To Help Sick

Through the ages man has had a desire to alleviate pain and to restore health. He has searched for cures as well as opiates. In the early history of Lincoln Parish, the home had to supply the simple remedies. Frequently, older women doctored with herbs. One especially mentioned in this parish was Katy Colvin. for whom a cemetery 's named, not because she had so many patients to put there, but because of her helpfulness in the community. Another of these ministering angels was a Mrs. Windsor who lived for a time with the Gahabans. She was the great-grandmother of Evelyn Davidson Tannehlll.

Marbury Drug Co was Pioneer Here

The Marbury Drug Is one of the few remaining businesses established- here when Ruston was founded .in 1883. Col. L. F. Marbury and A. T. Jackson wore the first proprietors of the drug store. Col. Marbury operated the business until his death when his daughter, Mrs. Helen  Raymond took over the business and carried on for several years. In 1922 J. B. Kendall bought out the business and organized the Marbury Drug Co.. Inc. Fire destroyed the old Marbury Drug when It was located on- the present site of. the Price Building and it was moved to its present location where it has remained. The late Mr. Kendall of Lincoln Parish, and the son of Dr W S Kendall, who had a large practice here for 45  years. He served as a officer in the first World War.

First Town Government

MAYOR J. J. NEILSON
CITY COUNCIL
A. F. COLEMAN
WM. HARPER
L. M. KIDD
S. P. COLVIN
E. L. HOLLAND

1950 City Government
MAYOR H. T. RICHARDSON
CITY COUNCIL
BLANCHARD ODOM
T. C. BEASLEY
 H. B. MAXWELL
HALE R. SHADOW
J. L. PERRY

Police Chief — PERRY KINARD
Fire Chief — J. T. MABRY
Supt. Streets — 0. W: HOGAN
Supt. Water - Light — P. G. GRAMBLING, JR.
City Attorney — H. M. WALKER
City Treasurer — J. A. NORRIS

THE CHURCHES

The second oldest church in Ruston is the Trinity Methodist, organized in January, 1385. The first records are to be found in the minutes of a quarterly conference held with the Rev. A. A. Cornett, presiding elder of the Homer district, in charge. The Rev. J, H. Stone is listed as the pastor. Fifteen persons were on the first church role. They were T. C. Standifer, L. .M. Kidd., W A J Lewis, Wiley Harrison, Willie L. Stone, Mrs. S. A. Standifer, Miss Ellen T. Standifer, Mrs. A. A. Kidd, Mrs. S- A. Lewis. Miss C. R. Lewis. Miss Katie O. Lewis, Miss E. E. Hinton and Miss W. I:. Colvin. First Stewards The first stewards chosen "to serve the young church were E L. Holland and W. A. J. Lewis Among other stewards elected in the circuit at that time was S. D Rinehart for the Douglas church. T. C. Standifer was elected recording steward, and Judge J. B. Holstead, district steward. L. M. Kidd was chosen as superintendent of  the Ruston Sunday school.

 At the first meeting it was reported that $2,400 had been raised for the building of churches—a rum probably used in building the first house of worship in Huston. . R. E. Russ, Lincoln parish businessman who gave his. name to the newly-founded town also gave the site for the first Methodist church. The deed was presented to churchmen Oct. 12, 1885. The Sunday school was organized shortly after the formation of, the church. in 1886 the Rev. Thomas B. White, D. D. succeeded the Rev. Mr. Stone as pastor. An early report recorded by Dr. White said, "I am happy to report my arrival at this place. The Sunday after conference our church and pulpit was occupied by our Baptist brethren; the following Sunday by our Presbyterian brethren." His statement indicates that this was the only church building in Ruston at that date. The Rev. James A. Parker, D. D., was pastor the following year. A parsonage is believed to have been built then, and the Ruston church received the status, in Methodist parlance, of a station, thus having a pastor's full time and full support.

Pastors

Examination of church records shows that the following Methodist ministers have served in Ruston as pastor of Trinity Methodist: J. H. Stone. T B. White, James A. Parker, T. K. Fauntleroy. J. D. Harper, J. A. Miller, A. J. Nodestine, H. R. Singleton. R. H Wynn, A. G. Shankle, W. H. Coleman, W. W. Holmes. J. M, Henry. J. G. Snelling. R. H Wynn. J. M. Henry, N. E. Joyner, Alonzo Early, W. W. Drake. H. M, Johnson, H. L. Johns, H. T. Cariey, Guy M. Hicks, J. J. Rasmusen, R. R. Branton.

Presiding Elders

Among the presiding elders have been: A. A. Cornett. J. T. Sawyer, Robert Handle. J. L. P. Sheppard-, J. D. Harper, B. T. Crews. J. O. Bennett, Briscoe Carter. R.. W. Tucker, J. M. Henry, K. W. Dodson,' W. D. Kleinschmidt, R. M. Brown. W. L. Doss, Jr., Louis Hoffpauir, D. B. Rawlins, G. W, Pomeroy.

Sunday School Superintendents

L. M. Kidd followed as "the first Sunday School superintendent by W. W. Guthrie who served for more than ten years. Succeeding superintendents were J. T. M. Hancock. Fred W. Price. S. D. Pearce, C, C. Henderson, C. H. Carson, O. B. Saples. H. V. Hudson. B. F. Dudley. H. E. Townsend, Dr. L F. Green J. C. Love.

Landmarks

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