Is There a Doctor in the House?

#52ancestors—week 35
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Is There a Doctor in the House?

 By Myra Vanderpool Gormley © 2018 

Dr. James Monroe Vanderpool (1859-1916) was what the family called a “country doctor” — in the traditional sense of being a small-town, old-fashioned doctor. The family also called him by his middle name, but most records show him as James M. 

He was born near the tiny town of Jasper (county seat of Newton County) Arkansas in the autumn of 1859. His family, part of the pro-Union faction in the Ozarks, removed to northern Missouri during the Civil War to escape bushwhackers, Confederate raids and the general violence of that time. His father, Capt. James R. Vanderpool, was a Union Army officer. The family returned to Newton County after the war. 

Monroe married young, when he was about 18, to Cumi Palestine Johnson, and in 1880, when his parents died a few months apart, he became the guardian of his baby brother, Levi Franklin Vanderpool, who was born 16 August 1880. Initially, I wondered why Monroe was named, since he was the third-eldest child of the family. However, a closer look at the 1880 census reveals that the two older children of the family — William (my ancestor) and Sarah (wife of William Treat) already had three and four children, respectively. Monroe and Cumi only had a two-year-old son at the time. Without any other evidence, it appears guardianship and care of the baby brother went to Monroe and his wife, probably because of economic and perhaps space factors. The other underage children of Capt. James R. Vanderpool were taken in by various family members, and they had a court-appointed guardian for their portions of the estate. 

Dr. James Monroe Vanderpool

So how did Monroe become a doctor? Obviously, he needed education and/or an apprenticeship, if such was the custom in those days. The medical education requirements of the 19th century are a bit murky and vary from place to place. Possibly he used the small inheritance from his parents to finance his education. 

However, the 20-year-gap between the 10th and 12th federal censuses (1880 and 1900) creates problems for research of this sort. In 1880, Monroe and his family are in Arkansas; in 1900, they are enumerated in the Creek Nation of Indian Territory, and he is listed as a physician. In 1910, he and his family resided in the small town of Calvin in Hughes County, Oklahoma. At the time of his death, his residence was given as Wetumka (Hughes County), Oklahoma. 

His 1916 obituary in the Checotah [McIntosh County, Oklahoma] Times does not mention his education, but indicates he and his family were in the process of removing to California. 

A search at Ancestry.com in the “Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929,” provided some answers: Death Date: 29 July 1916 in Wellington, (Sumner County) Kansas. Type Practice: Allopath. Medical School: Barnes Medical College, St. Louis, 1899, (G) Education: Common school, Jasper, Arkansas; Academy, Yellville (Marion County), Arkansas; and Fayetteville State University, Arkansas (probably meaning the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville). Licenses: Arkansas, 1888; Oklahoma, 1899; and last listed was 19 September 1913 in Calvin, (Hughes County) Oklahoma. 

Armed with this educational information, perhaps I will find additional records, even photographs, of Dr. James Monroe Vanderpool. Just what I need — another project for my copious spare time.