SLOCUM SOUTHWORTH, M. D. is a gentleman of high professional and social standing Calhoun County. He is a well-known physician of Hamburg where he enjoys an extensive practice, and where he has valuable farming interests and one of the pleasantest of homes. He is a native of Genesee County, N. Y., where he was born February 25, 1827, to Wheaton and Martha (Gifford) Southworth, natives of New England. His paternal ancestors are said to have been of Irish lineage and his grandfather Gifford was a Revolutionary soldier. His parents moved to Genesee County at an early day of its settlement, probably about 1804 or 1805 and were pioneers of that part of New York. The Doctor was the fifth son of the family and was reared to farming in his native county. He attended the village school at Bergen and there laid the solid foundation of a good education. At the age of eighteen years he began the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. Samuel Bleason, of Bergen and studied with him some five years, pursuing a thorough course in the Eclectic system; he subsequently attended the Eclectic Medical College at Rochester, N. J., and when he established himself in practice was well equipped for his profession. He first entered upon its duties in California, whither he went in 1852, going by water from New York City by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at San Francisco, Cal., after a voyage of one month and three days. The first six months that he passed in the Golden State, he was engaged in gold mining and the ensuing three years practiced medicine.
Three years and a half were spent in California before his return to his native State by the Nicaraugua route. He opened an office at Bergen, Genessee County, N. Y., and passed over a year in that town. In the spring of 1857 the Doctor came to Illinois, as he shrewdly perceived that in this more newly settled State, an ambitious, energetic physician would find a larger sphere of usefulness than in the older States. After spending a year at Lightsville, Ogle County, he came to this county, and for several years lived within a short distance of the village of Hamburg. He took up his abode where he now resides on section 10, Hamburg Precinct in 1864. He had already established a good reputation for skill and success in the treatment of the various cases that came under his care, and his practice constantly increased from year to year until it reached its present proportions.
Besides attending to his professional duties, the Doctor has found time to improve a good farm, which when he settled on it was but little cleared. Under his supervision it has been finely developed, is well-tilled, and its two hundred acres of land yield rich harvests and constitute one of the best farms in all the precinct. The Doctor having taken such an active part in promoting the agriculture of the county may well be considered one of its pioneers, and we always find him generously aiding any movement that in any way tends to promote the welfare of the precinct or the county. He is well-known for his sterling integrity in business transactions, and he and his wife are active in society matters and are highly esteemed by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance. The Doctor is soundly Democratic in his political views. He has served as School Treasurer of Hamburg Precinct for a number of years and has been potent in the introduction of its present educational system.
Our subject married for his first wife Eliza J. Blackorby, by whom he had one child, Altheda, who is deceased. The maiden name of his second wife was Mary A. Blackorby, and she bore him one child, Bergen, who is now deceased. For his third wife he married Martha E. Blackorby.
Extracted 08 Dec 2016 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Album of Pike and Calhoun Counties, Illinois, published in 1891, pages 229-230.
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