THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of Union
County, Georgia
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Noted country
doctor Dr. William H. Rogers
Union County
citizens of a past generation owe a debt of gratitude to exemplary
country doctors like Dr. Herbert Monroe Edge (subject of last week's
column) and Dr. William H. Rogers, each of whom practiced for over
fifty years among the country people they loved.
William H.
Rogers was born July
27, 1872 in Union County,
just seven years after the end of the Civil War. He was educated in
one-room schools in the county. Having a desire to become a doctor, he
entered and graduated from Southern Medical College in Atlanta and
from Emory University School of Medicine. While he was still in medical
school, he married the love of his life,
Frances Iowa Reid, a Union County
girl.
To this couple were born nine children, six sons and
three daughters: Bessie, George Reid, Roy,
Franklin Randall, Andy Ralph, Lucille, Rain, Nora Lee, and W. H. The Rogers
family lived in the Young Cane District of Union County.
Dr. Rogers'
long years of service to his home county brought memorable rewards,
none of which he sought but which he received by virtue of his
unselfish work. He received Presidential Citations for his service to
the war efforts during both World War I and World War II. The American
Medical Association recognized Dr. Rogers for fifty years of
outstanding service.
He saw the need
of his own people in Union County for
better medical service, and returned to his home county where he
practiced for over fifty years. With his medical bag and compassionate
personality, he went to country homes to deliver hundreds of babies and
to give treatment and medications to young and old. He rode miles on
his horse, and then after the advent of the automobile, he bumped along
dusty and muddy country roads to meet the demands of a full and
burgeoning practice.
Dr. Rogers died
February
23, 1959 and was laid to rest in the Confidence United Methodist Church Cemetery in
Lower Young Cane. His beloved wife, Frances Iowa Reid Rogers (born December 13, 1877) had
preceded her husband in death on September 27, 1958.
The Rev. Claude
Patterson gave the eulogy at Dr. Rogers' funeral. He related how Dr.
Rogers had a moving religious experience when he was a lad, and often
gave public testimony to his love for Christ and the Lord's leadership
in his life.
"He was indeed
one of us," the Rev. Patterson said. "He could rightly be called 'The
Missionary Doctor' for he was a missionary to many of us. The weather
was never too bad, the night never too dark, to deter his errands of
mercy. The family was never too poor for him to minister to them. The
roads were never so rough that he didn't manage somehow to get to his
patient. Many times he [went] to his sick neighbor when his own body
was racked with pain, or [he] was near exhaustion from long hours in
the saddle or at the wheel of his little automobile. He lived a
sacrificial life."
The eulogy
praised him as 'The Good Samaritan' who bound up physical wounds and
ministered to spiritual needs as well.
Several
descendants of this good doctor still live in Union County.
And, beyond that, many of the babies at whose birth he was the
attending physician can be thankful that they got a good start in life
from this country doctor's ministrations.
[Sources used
for this article: Sketches of Union County History, Volume 2, pages 95-
96. The Heritage of Union County, page 278.]
c2007 by Ethelene Dyer Jones; published Jan. 25, 2007 in The Union
Sentinel, Blairsville, GA. Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved.
[Ethelene
Dyer Jones is a retired educator, freelance writer, poet, and historian.
She may be reached at e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone
478-453-8751; or mail
1708
Cedarwood Road,
Milledgeville,
GA[
alltel.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708
Cedarwood Road,
Milledgeville,
GA
31061-2411.]