My Genealogy Hound

Dr. Robert C. Prewitt, a prominent physician, of Osceola, Ark., was born in Missouri in 1844, and from an early age displayed an eagerness for study and a desire for a professional life. He was the eldest of six children born to Joseph E. and Naoma (Nash) Prewitt, natives of the “Blue Grass State.” The father was a successful tiller of the soil, and followed this occupation in his native State until his removal to Missouri, which took place in 1838. He located in Pike County, and was one of its earliest settlers. The paternal grandfather, Robert C. Prewitt, was a native of Virginia, and came to Kentucky at an early day, where he followed farming. He participated in the War of 1812, was taken prisoner at the battle of Raisin River, and was held by the Indians all winter. He afterward returned to Kentucky, but subsequently emigrated to Missouri, where he died in 1850. The maternal grandfather, William N. Nash, was a native of Virginia, but emigrated to Kentucky, where he died and is buried. Dr. Robert C. Prewitt improved the educational advantages offered him in the common schools, and in 1861 began the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Robert C. Prewitt, in Pike County, Mo. During 1862-63 he attended lectures at St. Louis Medical College, but the year previous to this he enlisted in the Confederate army, was sent to Southwest Missouri, where he participated in the battles of Fulton, Mount Zion, Wilson Creek and Lexington. He was taken prisoner at the last-named place, but became ill and soon returned home. In January, 1864, the Doctor went to Kentucky, and located at Athens, Fayette County, where he began the practice of his profession. In October, of the same year, he married Miss Lottie C. Stephens, a native of Kentucky, and the daughter of Edwin Stephens, also a native of the “Blue Grass State,” and a merchant of Lexington, who died of cholera in 1849. Dr. Prewitt remained in Athens until 1873, when he went to Helena, Ark., and bought a farm on Old Town Ridge. He remained there for four years, and then came to Osceola, Ark., where he has been practicing ever since, and has acquired no inferior reputation for his ability as a physician and surgeon. In 1877 he opened a fine drug store in the place, which was practically the first in Osceola, and ran this for eight years. In 1879 he took a course of lectures at Louisville, Ky., and graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine the same year. The Doctor is a member of the county examining board, is ex-president of the Mississippi County Medical Society, is a member of the State Medical Society, and is ex-president of the Tri-State Medical Association, of Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. To Dr. and Mrs. Prewitt were born six children: Joseph E., Laura (attending school at Richmond, Ky.), Robert C. and Sarah. Two were born dead.