Dr. Samuel L. Kerr. Village of El Paso’s first physician, coming
from Kappa in 1857. He was mayor of El Paso in 1886. He died here January
4, 1897.
Dr. Samuel L. Kerr. Village of El Paso’s first physician, coming
from Kappa in 1857. He was mayor of El Paso in 1886. He died here January
4, 1897.
Comment was often made about Dr. Kerr's splendid stature and the fact that he always carried a fine riding whip. Even a fine whip was not much equipment for a doctor who had to ride horseback in all kinds of weather "to minister to the sick and ailing. It was necessary to be one's own pharmacist, to compound one's own pills and tinctures, and to meet every emergency alone and unaided."
In 1859 Dr. Kerr bought a small house at First and Cherry Streets just east of St. Andrew's church for $350 and lived there while building a new home, now the remodeled Wilkey Nursing Home at Grant and First. Years later he moved to a home south of Franklin Square, now the Parkside Apartments. At both of these later residences he raised fruits and grapes of many varieties as a hobby. He died on January 4, 1897 after forty years of practice and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, which he helped establish.
Three of our earliest doctors, Stockwell, Lamme and Cole, were physicians in the Civil War. Together with the soldiers, they returned with praise for the care and comfort given by Clara Barton and the other volunteer nurses, for it was not until 1872 that the first trained nurses were graduated.
One outgrowth of the Civil War was the decision in 1870 to organize a Woodford County Medical Society, which stipulated: "In this association no one is admitted to membership except those who have received
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