New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 48

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262

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AUBREY DICKSON, B. S., M. D., F. A. C. S., for more than a decade has been one one of the leading eye, ear, nose and throat specialists at Houston and his name car- ried with it a prestige that is an asset to the city in which it is associated. Dr. Dickson came to Hous- ton in 1914 after almost a decade and a half of successful practice in Alabama and has since been one of the factors in the medical advancement of this city. He has limited his work to ophthalmology, otology, rhinology and laryngology since 1896 and his work in this field has attracted the attention of his confreres. Dr. Dickson has his offices in the Bankers Mortgage Building and is on the staff of the Southern Pacific Hospital, of St. Joseph's Hos- pital and the Methodist Hospital.

Dr. Dickson was born at Montgomery, Alabama, the fifteenth of August, 1870, the son of David M. Dickson, one of the large cotton growers of that state. Dr. Dickson spent his boyhood on his father's three thousand acre plantation in the heart of the cotton growing district of Alabama. As a boy he attended the schools near his home, later going to the University of Alabama for two years. This was followed by one year at Howard College where he took his B. S. degree, after which he went to the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College at Auburn, Alabama, where he took a special course in chemistry for one year. He then entered Tulane University of New Orleans, Louisiana, taking his medical degree from that institution in 1892. The following year he was interne at the Manhatten Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, in New York City, after which he served as interne at the Poly- clinic Hospital in New York City. He has special- ized in Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat since 1896. He practiced in Mobile, Alabama, until 1913 when he came to Dallas on a Shrine trip and liked the state. Looking over the various cities, and summing up the medical advantages they had to offer, he de- termined to make Houston his home.

During the World War Dr. Dickson was commis- sioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps and was stationed at the base hospital of Camp Bowie. Prior to this he was for eighteen months a mem- ber of the medical advisory board at Houston.

Dr. Dickson was married at Ozark, Alabama, the first of December, 1896, to Miss Pauline Martin, a member of an old Alabama family. They have one adopted son, Aubrey Dickson Martin, a cousin of Mrs. Dickson. The family reside at 3510 Yoakum Boulevard, in Montrose. Dr. Dickson is a Mason, a member of Holland Lodge No. 1, of the Scottish Rite, and a life member of Arabia Temple Shrine. He is also a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Houston Country Club, the Univer- sity Club and is an Elk and a Knight of Pythias. Dr. Dickson is a member of the Harris County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association, the American Med- ical Association, the South Texas Railway Surgeons Association, the Houston Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Society, and was elected to fellowship in the Amer- ican College of Surgeons at Boston in 1921.

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SCAR L. NORSWORTHY, M. D., for up- wards of three decades an acknowledged leader in the field of medicine and surgery, and especially in radium work, to which he has devoted many years, has throughout his career given his services to humanity along lines that best promote his life's vocation. Dr. Norsworthy came to Houston in 1895, engaging in general practice until 1908, when he established his hospital, from which time until 1919, when he began to devote his time exclusively to radium work, he spent a great deal of his time in hospital work. Norsworthy's Hospital was established by him in 1908 to care for his personal practice, and had at that time a capacity of thirty beds. Dr. Norsworthy ran and maintained the hospital until 1923, when he made a gift of the entire building and the adjoining ground, together with all the equipment, to the Texas Methodist Conference, with the understanding that they were to build an additional structure sufficient to furnish beds for a total of one hun- dred and twenty-five patients. A small payment was required, for which straight notes, without security, were given Dr. Norsworthy. This was in order that he might retain an influence over the new hospital and see that it is properly equipped in a modern manner, and complete in every detail. To this end Dr. Norsworthy is using the notes given him by the conference for equipping the new hos- pital, and will himself receive no money from the original purchase price. Dr. Norsworthy, however, has no desire to have his name appear in the new hospital, nor will he allow it, and the new name will be Methodist Hospital, his only object in retaining an influence being to direct the equipment of the new institution.

Dr. Norsworthy was born at Jasper, Texas, Feb- ruary 26th, 1871, son of Laertius Norsworthy, a native of Louisiana, and for many years a farmer and planter in Texas, and Sallie B. (Ryall) Nors- worthy, a member of an old Texas family. Dr. Norsworthy worked on the farm until he was six- teen, attending the rural schools near his home. He then began working in a saw mill, earning six- teen dollars a month. After leaving the public schools at Jasper he entered Tulane Medical Uni- versity, graduating with the M. D. degree in 1895. He further supplemented his college work with two years as an interne at the Charity Hospital at New Orleans, and was also city ambulance surgeon in that city. He has also had one year post-graduate work in Vienna and in Germany, and has studied hospital methods in India, China and Japan. He was a member of the delegation of the American College of Surgeons which visited various countries on both the east and west coasts of South America, in 1923, during a trip whose purpose was the inspect- ing of the hospitals of that continent and the estab- lishment of more friendly relations between the surgeons of North and South America.

Dr. Norsworthy was married at Huntsville, Texas, on November 30, 1910, to Miss Sarah Sanford Gibbs, daughter of Sanford Gibbs, a business man at Hunts- ville, and a member of one of the oldest families in that part of the state. Dr. and Mrs. Norsworthy make their home at 3015 Main Street, Houston. Dr. Norsworthy belongs to the Harris County Med- ical Society, the South Texas District Medical So- ciety, the Texas State Medical Association, and the

American Medical Association. He is also a member of the Texas Radiological Society, the American Radium Society, and a Fellow of the American Col- lege of Surgeons. He is an ex-president of both the county and district medical societies, and keeps in close touch with all advancements in modern medicine. Dr. Norsworthy also belongs to various civic and social clubs, among them the University Club, the Houston Country Club, the River Oaks Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, in which organization he represents the surgeons of his district. Dr. Norsworthy is a member of the Methodist Church, which he supports actively, and in which he has been for many years an officer. Well worthy the obligations and honors associated with his profession, he has always be- lieved in doing good to his fellowman, and has used his profession in a practical way to achieve this desire. The gift of his hospital to the Texas Meth- odist Conference is but one of a long list of serv- ices to humanity, and few men have been more interested than he in the welfare of their fellowmen. He represents the highest type of medical man, and not only Houston, but the medical profession, is proud to claim him in the ranks.

AMES A. HILL, M. D., Physician and Sur- geon, has been actively identified with the medical profession in Houston for nearly fifteen years, having removed here from his former home at Groveton, Texas, in 1909. Dr. Hill has an extensive suite of offices at 602 Key- stone Building and is a member of the surgical staff of the Baptist Sanitarium and the Methodist and Municipal Hospitals. He also is General Con- sultant to the Arabia Temple Shrine Clinic. Dr. Hill devotes almost his entire time to surgery and it is not unusual for him to spend several hours in a day over the operating table. Other physicians re- gard him as one of the best technical surgeons in the city and no small part of his work in major operations is referred to him by other physicians who do not specialize in surgical practice.

Dr. Hill is a native of Texas and was born in Madi- son County on May 14, 1872, a son of Dr. J. T. and Sarah (Womack) Hill. His father before him was also a physician and one of the best loved and most popular men of Madison County. He was a native of Mississippi and served throughout the Civil War with the forces of the Confederacy. He was actively engaged in the practice of his profession until his death in 1911.

The younger Dr. Hill received his early education in the public and high schools at Rogers Prairie and his pre-medical education at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Entering the medical department of Tulane University at New Orleans, Dr. Hill graduated with the class of 1900, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and located at Groveton, Texas, where he was engaged in general practice until his removal to Houston in 1909. While at Groveton, a large saw mill center, Dr. Hill handled hundreds of accident cases and received a highly valuable training in surgery.

Recognition of the ability and high ethical stand- ing of Dr. Hill was accorded him in 1915 by his election as a fellow of the American College of Sur- geons, an honor that is accorded to only the ablest surgeons. During the late war he served in the Medical Corps of the United States Army with the

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rank of Major. He was stationed at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D. C., where he was Chief Operating Surgeon, Chief Consulting Surgeon and Chief of the Surgical Division for eight months.

On September 4, 1921, Dr. Hill was married at Houston to Miss Fan Etta Wortham, daughter of John L. Wortham, prominent insurance man and well known citizen of Houston. Mrs. Hill is a niece of Col. Louis J. Wortham of Fort Worth, publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and one of the best known men in Texas. Dr. and Mrs. Hill reside at 3603 Montrose Boulevard.

A man of remarkable skill and ability in his pro- fession, Dr. Hill is modest and retiring and can be induced to speak of his work only with the greatest reluctance. He is untiring in his efforts for hu- manity and his entire life, thought and energy is devoted to his profession. An intense student and thinker, he has contributed many scientific papers to medical journals that have attracted widespread attention among surgeons all over the country.

Besides a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Hill is also a member of the American Medical Association, Texas Medical Society and Har- ris County Medical Society. He also is an honorary member of the A. K. K. and is a communicant of Saint Paul's Methodist Church.

R. CHARLES M. AVES came to Houston in 1911 from Philadelphia and since that time has been active in the practice of his profession. Dr. Aves is Medical Director of the Humble Oil and Refining Company, and came with this company following his return from France where he served throughout the World War. Dr. Aves has a semi-hospital in the Humble Building, consisting of eight rooms; two rooms with two beds each. He has X-Ray and complete laboratory equip- ment in this office, and minor operations are at- tended to here. Fifty doctors do work for the Hum- ble Oil and Refining Company in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma and are paid for the amount and class of work they do; all of which is handled through this office. One physician is em- ployed on a salary at the Refinery at Baytown, where they have a modern hospital, with fourteen bed capacity, with a possible increase if necessary to twenty or twenty-four beds. A modern operating room and an X-Ray outfit is a part of the equipment at this hospital. Dr. Aves has at all times been an advocate of the First Aid Cabinets, and for these cabinets to be at all times filled, and these are found in the offices as well as in the field for the workers who may need them at any time, and many lives have been saved by their presence, par- ticularly in the cases of broken bones, and loss of blood. The employees of the Humble Oil and Re- fining Company are given lectures on the subject of the care of their health, and the matter of pure drinking water is at all times stressed, as well as diet, and they are withal a very healthy lot of men, due largely to the precaution of Dr. Aves and his corps of able assistants.

Dr. Aves was born in Cleveland, Ohio, November 14th, 1881. His father, Dr. C. S. Aves, deceased since 1923, was an Episcopal minister, and lived in Galveston, where he was Emeritus Clergyman of Trinity Church. His mother was Miss Jessie Olivia Hughes, a member of a prominent family of Lima, Ohio. His early education was obtained

in the public schools of Norwalk, Ohio, and he later attended Kenyon Military Academy, and graduated from this institution in 1900. He then entered Ken- yon College, where he remained for two years, and then became a student of the University of Texas for one year in the Academic Department. He then entered the Medical Department of the University of Texas, from which he graduated in the class of 1907, receiving the M. D. degree. During the re- mainder of 1907 and in 1908, Dr. Aves served as an interne in the Sealy Hospital at Galveston. From 1908 to 1910 he served in the Episcopal Hospital at Philadelphia and in doing post-graduate work in the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Aves was one of the first medical men to leave Houston for service in the World War. On May 31st, 1917, he was commissioned captain, and went across in August, 1918. In the meantime, he had taken two post-graduate courses-at Washington University, St. Louis, where he remained for two months and spent this time on the subject of Brain Surgery. He then went to the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Min- nesota, where he spent two months in general surgery. The remainder of the time, before leaving America, was spent at Fort Bliss, Camp Grant and Camp Devens, Massachusetts. Dr. Aves went across as Chief Surgeon of Evacuation Hospital No. 24, with the rank of Major, and served at Mesves dur- ing the time he was in France, becoming Command- ing Officer in 1918. On February 17th, 1919, Dr. Aves was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Col- onel, and brought his unit back to the United States on June 1st, 1919. During the time Dr. Aves was in France, his unit handled 10,584 wounded Amer- icans in his hospital, which is the record in any war hospital. This hospital was one of the largest used during the war, and had a 4,200-bed capacity, with thirty-four medical officers, and had as many as forty-eight when necessity demanded that they have that number. The hospital at Mesves, France, was a unit of the largest hospital center in the world with a capacity of sixty thousand beds, and Dr. Aves' unit was the largest; and he handled all cases of head injury. On his return to Houston in 1919, he assumed his duties as Medical Director of the Humble Oil and Refining Company in August of that year. In addition to the hospital equipment of the company in the Humble Building, a nurse is in constant attendance and two nurses are em- ployed at the hospital at Baytown. Dr. Aves is active in the business and commercial interests of the city and is a director of the National Bond and Mortgage Company.

Dr. Aves was married in Houston, May 5th, 1915, to Miss Ruby Lynn Arnim, a daughter of F. F. Arnim, a well known real estate man of Houston, and her grandfather was one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. They have one son, Charles Arnim Aves. Dr. Aves is a member of the American Medical Association, Texas State Medical Association, Harris County Medical Asso- ciation, Texas Surgical Society, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, to which he was elected in 1915. He is also a member of the A. F. & A. M., Delta Kappa Epsillon of Kenyon College and the Phi Alpha Sigma, a medical fraternity of the University of Texas. Dr. Aves believes that Houston will soon become, not only the medical center of the Southwest, but the leading city as well.

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OHN W. BURNS, M. D., F. A. C. S., of the Medical Fraternity of Cuero, where he en- gages in practice, and has performed a conspicuous service to his community through the establishment of the Burns Hospital, a memorial to his father, the late Columbus Burns, honored Cuero pioneer, Dr. Burns is a native of Cuero and began his medical practice here in the early nineties as a general practitioner. With the passing of years he began to give special attention to surgery in which field he was particularly suc- cessful, and at intervals went abroad, where he worked at the great surgical clinics in Vienna. In 1911 he established the Burns Hospital, as a me- morial to his father. This hospital, equipped with thirty beds, is modern in every respect, with all facilities available that modern surgery and medical practice demand. A nurse's training school is

operated in connection with the hospital, with ten student nurses and three graduate nurses. Dr. Burns, while not limiting his work to surgical cases, has a large majority of surgical work and has attained prominence for his work in this field, hav- ing been made a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, in recognition of his eminence as a sur- geon.

Dr. Burns was born at Cuero, in 1866, son of Columbus Burns, and a member of one of the most prominent families of this section. He attended the public schools of Cuero. He then entered Van- derbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, taking his medical degree in 1891. He then returned to Cuero, entering private practice here. In 1899 he spent six months at the clinics of Vienna, and again in 1902 and in 1908 spent a like period there. He also goes annually to the medical centers at Phil- adelphia, Chicago, Cleveland and Rochester, where he does special surgical work under eminent sur- geons of the United States.

Dr. Burns was married at Cuero, to Miss Gellett, a member of a well known Cuero family. They have four children, Dr. Gellett Burns, a physician at Rochester, Minnesota; Dr. Arthur Burns, a physician at Rochester, Minnesota; Dorothy, now Mrs. LeRoy Hamilton, and Miss Antoinette Burns. Dr. Burns is a Mason, Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council at Cuero, Commandery at Yoakum, Shrine and Consis- tory at San Antonio. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a former president of that organ- ization, is president of the Rotary Club, and belongs to the DeWitt County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, the Southern Medical Associa- tion, the American Medical Association, the Texas Surgical Society, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Columbus Burns, father of Dr. Burns, was born in Texas the eleventh of December, 1829, and spent his life in this state. Mr. Burns' entire life was governed by a conspicuous honesty that placed him among the outstanding Texans of his day, and there was attached to his name an integrity that was one of his proudest possessions. The Burns family orig- inally settled in Pennsylvania, and were of pioneer- ing stock. Later descendants went across to Ohio and in all western states as the tide of emigration flowed west. Arthur Burns, grandfather of Dr. Burns, came to Texas with the DeWitt settlement, and directly after the Austin Colony had settled in the state. His league and labour of land was

located near the present site of Cuero, his son, Co- lumbus Burns, spending his life on this place. Ar- thur Burns was with the wagons ahead of the army when the Battle of San Jacinto was fought, and took a prominent part in the early life of this sec- tion, as did his son, Columbus Burns, father of Dr. Burns.

E. CHAPMAN, M. D., began the practice of his profession in Galveston in 1917 and he also became instructor of the department of medicine of the University of Texas dur- ing the same year, and has continued in this capa- city since that time. Dr. Chapman is engaged in the general practice of medicine, with special atten- tion to internal medicine, and has establishd an en- viable reputation in his chosen branch of the med- ical profession. While Dr. Chapman received the degree of M. D. from the University of Texas in 1915 he did not begin the practice of his profession until two years later. During these two years he was in- structor in the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of Texas. Dr. Chap- man's offices are located at 720 American National Insurance Company Building.

A native Texan, Dr. Chapman was born at George- town on August 28th, 1887. His father, W. E. Chap- man, is a well known attorney of Ennis, Texas, where for many years he has been prominent in the legal profession of North Texas. His paternal grandfather and grandmother came to Texas from Tennessee in the early days of the Lone Star State, and were highly esteemed citizens of Ellis County. Dr. Chapman's education was obtained at the Trin- ity University of Waxahachie, Texas, and he grad- uated from this institution in the class of 1909 with the A. B. degree. From 1909 until 1911 he was on the teaching staff of the Ennis High School. He then entered the University of Texas, graduating from the medical branch of this college with the M. D. degree in the class of 1915, and after graduat- ing, he served as an interne at the John Sealy Hos- pital of this city for one year.

Dr. Chapman was married at Galveston on June 8th, 1918, to Miss Cecelia Sedgwick, a native of Galveston and a member of a pioneer family here. They have two children, Frances Louise and L. E. Chapman, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Chapman reside at 3202 Avenue Q. Dr. Chapman is a member of the Galves- ton Country Club, the Kiwanis Club, the County, State, District and the American Medical Associa- tions, and also holds membership in the Congress of Internal Medicine and the college fraternity A. K. K. Dr. Chapman is enthusiastic as to the fu- ture of Galveston, and believes that this city is en- tering into an era of great business prosperity along all lines. He is popular in the business and pro- fessional circles of Galveston, and has a host of friends in this city and in South Texas. Texas, he says, is just getting started toward attracting the attention of the country, and he expects Galveston to profit largely by the interest now being cen- tered on the Lone Star State. Dr. Chapman believes that Galveston is the logical location for a great medical center. There is need for more hospital room and better teaching facilities, but he is con- fident that these will be provided along with the other advantages that are being added to Galveston day after day.

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LVIS E. GREER, M. D., Physician and Sur- geou, and well known member of the medi- cal fraternity of Harris County, has ren- dered conspicuous service in his commun- ity, giving his best energy and enthusiasm to the improvement of medical standards. Dr. Greer came to Houston in 1910, from Chicago and has since been a leader in the field of internal medicine and diagnosis, contributing to medical literature and ac- tive in organized medicine. Dr. Greer is on the staff of the Baptist Hospital, and the staff of the Houston Municipal Hospital, in charge of charity work in medical service, and is Chief of Staff of the Houston Tuberculosis Hospital. He is active in the work being done by the Harris County Medical So- ciety, a group of men who co-operate with each other and for the best interests of their city, and one of the strongest medical societies in the State. Dr. Greer sees in Houston the medical center of the Southwest and gives freely of his time and means toward the realization of this great plan. He was Director of the State Public Health Association in 1922 and takes at all times an interest in this im- portant work. He has been for a number of years active in the work of the Houston Anti-Tuberculosis League, of which he is a Director, and has helped make possible the development of this organization until now they conduct a regular clinic for diag- nosis, with three nurses making calls, and a seventy- five bed hospital. Dr. Greer, with his associates, has one of the finest equipped and planned private medical buildings in the South, with waiting and examination rooms and a complete laboratory, with equipment for test work in blood chemistry, and of May, 1885, son of John S. Greer, a merchant in Southern Illinois, and Miranda May (David) Greer. He attended the schools of Chicago, graduating from Mount Vernon High School in 1902, after which he entered Northwestern University, taking his pre- medical and medical courses there, and graduating in 1908 with the M. D. degree. He served his in- terneship at the Cook County Hospital, from 1908 until 1910, at which time he came to Houston.

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New encyclopedia of Texas, volume 2, Part 48

Author: Davis, Ellis A. Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?] Number of Pages: 1262

Author: Davis, Ellis A.
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Dallas, Tex. : Texas development bureau, [1926?]
Number of Pages: 1262