Charles L. Botkin

As printed in 1914

CHARLES L. BOTKIN, M. D.

Conspicuous among the younger physicians of Randolph county is Dr. Charles L. Botkin, of Farmland, a worthy representative of one of our sterling old families, members of which have long made their influence felt for the general upbuilding of this locality. The Doctor has led a well-regulated life, thereby gaining the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come into contact.

Doctor Botkin was born in Randolph county July 6, 1878. He is a son of Thomas W. and Mary E. (Irvin) Botkin, the mother a daughter of Lafayette Irvin. The Doctor had two brothers, namely: John L., a farmer in this county, married Suda Cheesm.an, and they have two children, Marvin T., born in 1897, and Harold D., born in 1899. The other brother, Clyde E., now deceased, was a physician at Parker City, was graduated from the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, with the class of 1907, after which he at once took up the practice of medicine at Parker City, and was making a great success. His death occurred here in 1910, at the early age of twenty-eight years. He married Ruby Wood, a daughter of Henry F. Wood, the present county auditor.

Thomas W Botkin, father of our subject, was born in Randolph county and here he has spent his life, being now sixty-nine years old. He, too, is a physician, his name having long been a household word throughout the county. He has practiced for a period of forty-five years, principally at Farmland. He was graduated from the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, and, subsequently, took a post-graduate course in a Chicago medical school. He was a soldier in the Sixty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war.

Dr. John W. Botkin, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was also born and reared in Randolph county. He was the first of the Doctor Botkins here, having been also a graduate of the Eclectic Medical College, of Cincinnati, Ohio. He began practicing medicine at the age of twenty years and continued with uninterrupted success until the day of his death, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was one of the leading pioneer physicians of this section of the state, and was hailed as a leader among his professional brethren and was popular with all who knew him. His father was from North Carolina, and was one of the very earliest settlers in this part of Indiana. He was a sterling type of frontiersmen. The mother's people, the Irvins, also hailed from North Carolina, but she was born in Indiana. Her mother came from North Carolina to Kentucky, thence to Indiana. The great-grandfather of our subject took up a very large tract of land from the government.

Dr. Charles L. Botkin received his early education in the Winchester high school, then was a pupil at the Indianapolis Business College, after which he entered the Indiana Medical College, from which institution he was grade;ated in 1904. He then spent a year and a half in the Deaconess Hospital, Indianapolis, as senior house surgeon, then took up the practice of medicine in Farmland, March 1, 1906 and here he has remained to the present time. He seems to have inherited many of the peculiar attributes of head and heart necessary to the success and popularity of the general physician and surgeon.

Doctor Botkin was married April 19, 1910, to Myrtle Garrett, a daughter of Fremont and Adaline (Trueblood) Garrett, a prominent lawyer of Randolph county, whose family consisted of three daughters and one son, namely: Edna, married Walter Ziegler, a salesman, of Toledo, Ohio, and they have four children; Nellie is the wife of J. D. Barger, a groceryman, of Ridgeville, and they have one son, James; Arthur, of Cleveland, Ohio, is with the Multigraph Sales Company, is married and has seven children; Myrtle, wife of Doctor Botkin. Mrs. Botkin's mother, Adaline Trueblood, was the daughter of Jonathan Trueblood, who was a native of North Carolina. The parents of the above named children are both deceased.

Politically, Doctor Botkin is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Free and Accepted Masons, is a Knights Templar, and he also belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church.

As printed in Past and present of Randolph County, Indiana : with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.