William L. Thompson

As printed in 1907

WILLIAM L. THOMPSON. M. D.

Dr. William Lincoln lliompson, a general practitioner of Bayard, was born near Madrid. Polk county, Iowa, on the 17th of February; 1862. His father, Amos Thompson, was a native of Wooster, Hancock county. Ohio, born February 19, 1830. He remained in that state until twenty-six Aears of age. when he came to Iowa, settling first near Dayton, while later he removed to Polk county. There he engaged in farming until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he joined the thousands of brave men who were flocking to the.support of the L'nion from the counting houses, from the offices, from the workshops and the farms. He was. assigned to duty with Company B, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for eighteen months, taking an active ])art in the battles of Bull Run. Shiloh and other hotly contested engagements, but was discharged on account of physical disability in 1863. He then returned to Polk county, where he resumed farming, continuing actively in that work until 1900, when he retired. He married Miss Martha J. Mosgrove, who was born in Indiana and came to Boone county, Iowa, in 1839. '' hey are still livingon the old homestead in Polk county. By her marriage she became the mother of six children: Alary J., the wife of Benjamin W'ylie, of Madrid, Iowa: Millard L.. who is a farmer living near Madrid: William L.. of this review: Maggie A., the wife of W. H. Van Zandt, a railway postal clerk; Sherman, a carpenter of Madrid, Iowa, and J. Taylor, who is living in Green River, Utah.

William L. Thompson was educated in the public schools of Polk county, Iowa, and in the Iowa State College at Ames. He afterward engaged in teaching school for a time. In his college work he pursued a scientific course and was graduated with the class of 1888. He then followed teaching in the graded schools of Des Moines. Polk county and Rippey, Greene county, for two years, and later became superintendent of city schools at Bismarck, North Dakota. Regarding this merely as an initial step to other professional labor, he entered upon the study of medicine at Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1894. He worked on the board of health of Chicago for a short time, broadening his knowledge concerning sanitary conditions and the use of remedial agencies in various ways. He then located in Bayard, where he has since successfully practiced. He is recognized as an able and learned member of the profession and has done effective work in ministering to the needs of the sick and suffering.

Dr. Thompson was married on the 29th of April, 1896. to Aliss Florence E. Keames, who was at that time a resident of Bayard, and they now have one child, Harold, born May 2T,, 1897. The parents are earnest and faithful members of the Church of Christ, in which the Doctor is a deacon. His political support is given to the republican party and he is a member of several fraternal organizations, including Benevolent lodge. No. 451, A. F. & A. M., at Bayard, of which he is master: the Modern Woodman camp.

at Bayard, and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. In professional lines he is connected with Dallas and Guthrie Counties Medical Association, the Iowa State Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He is a self-made man, who worked his way through school, providing for the expense of his college courses by his labors as a teacher. The strength of his character was thus demonstrated. Self-reliance is the source of all genuine worth in the individual and its spirit has been admirably de- Aeloped in Dr. Thompson. At the same time he manifests a spirit of genuine helpfulness and kindliness to others. He has ever made a close and discriminating study of the science of his profession and. moreover, has the adaptability which enables him to accurately apply its principles to the needs of his patients. As the years have passed he has prospered and is now the owner of a good home in Bayard, together with land holdings in Green River valley, Utah.

As printed in Past and present of Guthrie County, Iowa : together with biographical sketches of many of its prominent and leading citizens and illustrious dead (1907). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.