A.J. MORRIS, M.D.
Page 502

A.J. MORRIS, M.D., is one of the most successful members of the medical profession as represented in Mason City, and is favorably known throughout the entire county. As a physician of high mental endowments he enjoys the confidence of the people, who recognize the fact that he possesses a thorough knowledge of medicine as well as exceptional skill and considerable experience. On the 24th of June, 1854, the Doctor was born in the city of Brooklyn, N.Y., being the son of Arthur J. and Grace (Ash) Morris, natives respectively of Ireland and England. The father, upon emigrating to the United States, settled in New York and continued to reside upon Long Island until his death, which occurred in 1892. He was a man of wide information, notwithstanding the fact that his educational advantages had been very meager. His wife died in 1855, many years prior to his demise. Of Irish and English parentage, the Doctor has inherited the versatility characteristic of the former race, together with the firmness of will and determination found among the English race. In childhood he was a pupil in the schools of Brooklyn and there laid the foundation of the fund of knowledge he has since acquired. At the early age of fourteen he started out in the world for himself and made the long journey to the west alone. Reaching Henry County, Ill., he there secured employment upon a farm, continuing this occupation for eight years. Though the manual labor required was arduous, he did not fail to improve every opportunity for the culture of his mind. Whenever the opportunity was presented he attended the school of his neighborhood, and the leisure hours during the evening were devoted to the study of good books. Reading was his favorite occupation, and to this day he retains his boyish love for a book. Nor was he content with the mere reading of the volume, but in addition he endeavored to impress upon his mind the principal thoughts brought out by the author, and thus he acquired a wide range of knowledge. Leaving the farm in 1877, our subject next applied for and secured a school at Walker's Grove, which he continued to teach for three years, beginning with 1878. Afterwards he taught the school at Red Oak, Ill., for one year, and was similarly engaged in Easton for three years and San Jose for one year. For four years he had charge of the school in New Holland, Logan County, Ill., and in the meantime devoted his spare moments to the study of medicine. In 1887 he entered the office of Dr. J. M. Taylor, at that time a prominent physician of Mason County, and under the tuition of that able and successful practitioner he acquired the rudiments of his medical knowledge. In 1890 he passed an examination before the Illinois State Board of Health and received license to practice. Later he took a course of lectures at Hahnemann College, Chicago, and was graduated from that institution in 1891, since which time he has conducted a general practice of medicine and surgery in Mason City. Socially the Doctor is identified with the Mason City Lodge No. 337, I.O.O.F. In politics he is a pronounced Prohibitionist and is an enthusiastic advocate of the platform of that party. In 1884 he passed an examination for a teacher's certificate of perpetual standing, the securing of which is considered quite an honor for the recipient and which cannot be obtained without a high degree of scholarship. In the spring of 1878 Dr. Morris was united in marriage with Miss Flora Ringland, who was born in Mason County, this state, being a daughter of Thomas Ringland, one of the pioneers of Peoria County, Ill. Dr. and Mrs. Morris are members of the Baptist Church, in the work of which they are actively interested. They are the parents of three children. Herbert Garfield, Nellie Louise and Eva Marguerite. The Doctor is a genial, affable gentleman, successful as a practitioner and popular as a citizen.

1894 Biography Index

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