My Genealogy Hound

HIRAM B. WILCOX, M. D., a practicing physician and surgeon of Three Oaks, was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., November 24, 1818. He is the son of Oliver Wilcox, whose father, John, is entitled to considerable mention in this volume, for he was a hero of the Revolutionary War and a pioneer of the Holland Purchase. During the opening years of the great struggle between the Colonies and the Mother Country, he enlisted for service and became an officer in the army of Gen. Washington. He went into camp at Valley Forge a Sergeant, but was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and was selected by Col. Barton as one of his lieutenants for the famous expedition into Rhode Island against the British.

At the close of the War of the Revolution, John Wilcox returned to his home near Plymouth, Mass., bearing with him the consciousness of having done his duty to his country, and bearing also the record of a daring and gallant officer. In 1805 he removed from New England and became one of the earliest settlers on the Holland Purchase in western New York, where he remained until death closed his career. The father of our subject, Oliver Wilcox, was born in Massachusetts and accompanied his parents to New York, where he married Miss Hannah Barnes, a native of the State of Maine. He was a carpenter by trade, and in connection with that occupation also followed farming pursuits. In 1821 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked at his trade until 1827, when he died.

After the death of her husband, the widowed mother remained for a few years in Cleveland, removing thence to Huron, Ohio, and in 1834 settling in La Porte County, Ind., where she entered some land from the Government. She died in the house where our subject now lives, on the 25th of January, 1870. At the age, of fourteen our subject commenced to clear the wild land upon which his mother had settled, and succeeded in clearing fifty acres of the entire tract. He also assisted in clearing one hundred acres belonging to his uncle. His education was acquired at the old Cleveland Academy.

At Rolling Prairie, Ind., our subject commenced the study of medicine under Dr. B. C. Bowell, and after studying with him for a short time he went to White Water, Wis., in 1845, where he conducted his medical studies under the preceptorship of Drs. Clark and Rice, completing with them his three-years course of study. Before he began his studies, he attended one term of lectures at the Indiana Medical College, and after he had studied with Drs. Rice and Clark he entered the Rush Medical College, at Chicago. During the two terms he spent at that institution, he was in the office of Dr. N. S. Davis, of Chicago, for two winters. Subsequently he went to Cleveland, where he spent some time in the medical department of the Western Reserve University, being under the tutelage of Dr. J. P. Kirtland, one of the most renowned scientists of this country, and the peer of any physician in America. He was graduated from the Western Reserve University in 1851. It will thus be seen that he availed himself to the utmost of every opportunity for acquiring a perfect theoretical knowledge of his profession, and through later years he has kept in close touch with the latest developments in the medical world.

In Galena Township, La Porte County, Ind., the young Doctor commenced the practice of his profession. At that early day he was the only physician within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, and his practice extended throughout the entire section of country. It was his custom to ride on horseback to visit his patients, and he was obliged to travel through the dense forests and over rude roads. His life was one of hardship and toil, but his devotion to his profession was amply repaid, for he gained a place in the regard of his fellow-citizens such as falls to the lot of but few. In 1860 he removed to Berrien Springs, where he sojourned for a short time.

In 1862 Dr. Wilcox came to Three Oaks, where he has practiced continuously since, with the exception of three years (1870-73), when he was a resident of Cadillac, Mich., and examining surgeon for pensioners at that place. In 1844 he married Miss Sabrina, daughter of Samuel Webster, a resident of Galena, Ind. This lady was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., and was reared and educated in the Empire State, accompanying her parents to Michigan when a young lady. Four children were born of this union, one of whom, Mark H., died in infancy. The others are: Maria, who is the wife of John C. Ingham, a prominent business man of Benton Harbor; Lucy, Mrs. Charles M. Valentine, of La Moure, N. Dak., her husband being a druggist of that city; and Henrietta, wife of William Russ, a traveling salesman of Chicago. The mother of these children died on the 9th of November, 1871.

The Doctor was married again, on the 24th of November, 1872, choosing as his wife Miss Nellie, daughter of James Fuller, a carpenter residing in Vermontville, Mich. Mrs. Wilcox was born in Vermont, and was there reared until twelve years of age, when she went with her parents to Detroit and one year later to Rolling Prairie, Ind. This union has been blessed by the birth of two children; Oliver H., who is engaged in teaching school in Berrien County; and Joye, who is attending the High School in Three Oaks.

In politics, the Doctor is a Democrat with Prohibition proclivities. In religion, he is a member of the Christian Church and a prominent worker in the Sunday-school. During the late war he offered his services to the Government, but was rejected on account of his health. In former years he had a very large practice, extending throughout this entire section of country. Now enfeebled by advancing years, he has somewhat retired from active practice, although he is still physician for a number of prominent families, who are loath to dispense with his. services. He has been the recipient of justly merited honors. He was elected a member of the Historical Society in Onondaga, N. Y., and the National Historical Society at Davenport, Iowa.