1891 Biography - Lewis Foiles

LEWIS FOILES, M. D., is a representative physician and surgeon of Calhoun County, who has been unusually successful in his profession. He has an attractive home on section 6, Hamburg Precinct, where he is busily engaged in looking after a large and lucrative practice. The Doctor is a native of Lawrence County, Ohio, where he was born December 20, 1841. When he was thirteen years old he came to Calhoun County, and here grew to manhood. His youth was employed in farming and his educational advantages were meagre. Previous to coming here he attended the subscription and public schools of Ohio, and further supplemented his early education by reading what books came in his way.

The Doctor is one of the noble defenders of our country who helped to save the Union during the War of the Rebellion. In the opening years of his manhood he volunteered his services to aid in suppressing the rebellion and his name was enrolled as a member of Company I, Seventieth Illinois Infantry. His regiment was stationed at Camp Butler and Alton, Ill., doing garrison duty and guarding prisoners for some five months. After the expiration of his first term of service he re-enlisted in the month of February, 1864, in Company K, Twenty-ninth Infantry, which became a part of the Army of the Gulf. He was present at the capture of Fts. Spanish and Blakeley and at the surrender of Mobile, also participating in many skirmishes with the enemy and showing fine soldierly qualities both in camp and on the battlefield.

Dr. Foiles was honorably discharged from the army in the month of November, 1865, and returned to Calhoun County. In 1869 he began the study of medicine under Dr. G. A. Williams, of Hardin, with whom he read a number of years. In 1873-74 he became a student at Rush Medical College at Chicago for the benefit of the fall and winter courses of lectures. In 1875-76 he took another course of lectures there and in the winter entered the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, from which he was graduated finely equipped for his profession March 2, 1876. In the fall of that year he established himself in Hamburg Precinct, taking up his residence in his present abode.

The Doctor met with assured success from the start and soon won the confidence of the people, for they recognized in him the elements of a true physician, who possessed unusual ability and came to them well grounded in medical knowledge. His practice constantly increased and to-day his reputation as a physician of learning and skill is unsurpassed in this county. He is not only highly regarded as a physician however, but stands high in the estimation of the entire community as a man and a citizen. His public spirit and genuine interest in the welfare of Hamburg Precinct and of the county at large are well known and often manifested. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and with his wife stands high in social circles. In his political views he casts his ballot with the Republican party.

The marriage of Dr. Foiles with Miss Margaret V. Foiles was solemnized September 4, 1864. Mrs. Foiles was born June 24, 1842, and is a daughter of James and Mary Foiles, of Crater Precinct, of whom a sketch appeals in this Biographical Album.

By their marriage the Doctor and his wife have had nine children, eight of whom are living: Mollie E.; Dora V., wife of George E. Likes; Harriet E., wife of John Bunch; Ada, Nettie F., Effie L., Ora, Bertha L. and Orin (deceased). A lithographic portrait of the Doctor will be found elsewhere in this Album.

Extracted 16 Mar 2017 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Album of Pike and Calhoun Counties, Illinois, published in 1891, pages 534-536