A history of Pickford Area Pioneer Families Daniel Morrison

Doctors

Dr. David H. Webster

Dr. David H. Webster was born in Leeds County, Province, Ont., July 8th, 1850, of Scotch and Irish parents. He graduated from the Medical University of Buffalo New York. He was house surgeon for some time in the Fitch Accident Hospital at Buffalo.

When he decided to continue the practice of medicine, he turned towards the United States and was attracted to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan by the boom, then at its height, but on his arrival there, he could not find office room. Latecomers were being housed in tents, so great was the rush.

In 1890 he was urged to go to Pickford, which had no doctor nearer than the Soo and he did so. The doctor's field included the territory for many miles around. It was hard work and he had to keep a good horse and buggy or cutter ready to go at all times when called out.

While at Pickford, the doctor was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Wilson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wilson, pioneer residents of Chippewa County.

He was the first doctor to establish a residence in Pickford. He had his office in his home located on Main Street where the Community building is now. In 1910 the family moved to Detroit and he carried on his profession for a number of years. He came back to St. Ignace in 1918 and continued his practice until his death.

Dr. Webster was a member of the Presbyterian Church, was a Master Mason, a member of Simpson Lodge of Newboro, Ontario. He was a Macabee for twenty-nine years and an honorary member of the Foresters. His wife, Margaret, passed away in Detroit. They had one daughter, Esther Webster, who lives in Detroit

Dr. J. A. Cameron

Dr. Cameron was born in Toronto on September 13, 1866. His father was a professor in Toronto College and John went to the city schools until he was fourteen years old, when his father sent him out on a farm for five years because of his weak lungs.

At nineteen he returned to school and got his first certificate, a third class in 1886. He taught school for two years, walking four miles night and morning and doing chores for his board. He then went to the Collegiate Institute at Strathroy for two years, taking a Second and First Class certificate and Honor Matriculation to Toronto University, a record that had never been made up to that time.

In the fall of 1890 he attended the School of Pedagogy at Toronto and stood highest in the class for he remained as a teacher in the Hamilton College Institute. Next year he accepted the Science Mastership of the Windsor College Institute where he remained for two years before starting his course in medicine.

In 1893 he went to Kingston, Ontario, where he lectured on Science and studied at the same time, doing this for two years when he got a position in the Detroit College of Medicine, where he lectured and studied until his graduation in 1896. After graduation he came north in answer to an urge which had been with him for years and he located at Pickford.

Shortly after coming to Pickford, at the solicitation of many farmers and others, he opened a drug store, having graduated as a pharmacist, standing second highest in the examination at Marquette in a class of thirty-six candidates.

Dr. Cameron remained in Pickford for thirty years and returned to Detroit in 1926 where he remained for five years. He was sent to Ohio in 1930 to lecture on this work among the physicians and was made a special lecturer in the Detroit College of Technology. He also gave many lectures to the different societies in Detroit.

He returned from Detroit in 1931 and resumed his practice in Pickford. Dr. Cameron died at the age of seventy-eight, Sunday, December 17, 1944, at Miami Beach, Florida, where he had been visiting his daughter and son-in-law, Major and Mrs. William Mertaugh.

Dr. T. Greely Fox

Dr. T. Greely Fox was born on June 20, 1870, on his parents' farm in Olinda, Ontario. He was the youngest of four boys, but had a sister younger than he. His parents were Horatio Nelson Fox and Jessica Cullen, of Scotch and English descent. After completing school, Mr. Fox expressed his desire to go to medical school, but his father was not of the same mind. However, he was sent to Detroit to take a course in business and clerical work. After completing this course, he secured a job in Newberry, Michigan, in the office of the Barrett Lumber Company. He later moved to the Copper Country where he went into partnership in a combined grocery store and meat market in Hancock. It was in this town that he met and married Susan Catherine Bowden.

Shortly after coming to Pickford, at the solicitation of many farmers and others, he opened a drug store, having graduated as a pharmacist, standing second highest in the examination at Marquette in a class of thirty-six candidates.

Dr. Cameron remained in Pickford for thirty years and returned to Detroit in 1926 where he remained for five years. He was sent to Ohio in 1930 to lecture on this work among the physicians and was made a special lecturer in the Detroit College of

Technology. He also gave many lectures to the different societies in Detroit.

He returned from Detroit in 1931 and resumed his practice in Pickford. Dr. Cameron died at the age of seventy-eight, Sunday, December 17, 1944, at Miami Beach, Florida, where he had been visiting his daughter and son-in-law, Major and Mrs. William Mertaugh.

Mr. Fox and his next older brother, Norman, were very close. He taught school, but wanted to become a dentist. Greely helped him through school. After he finished, he returned to practice in Hancock and remained there. Mr. Fox never lost sight of his goal to become a doctor. He sold his share in the business and entered the Detroit Medical College, now part of Wayne State University. He graduated in June, 1907, and began to practice in Raber, then a lumbering town. He also had an office in Pickford and Cedarville, where he spent a day each week.

In July, 1912, he moved to Pickford where he practiced until he was forced to retire because of ill health. He had offers to go to larger places, but could not bring himself to leave the practice and place he loved so well.

It was not easy to travel then as the roads were poor and snow removal nil. At first he used horses entirely, but after the Model A's were produced he had a car for the snow free months. During World War I there was a great deal of illness and death from influenza. Dr. Fox went almost constantly, sleeping as he traveled. He usually had a driver then.

Dr. Fox retired about 1940. They sold their home in Pickford and moved to Sault Ste. Marie. Mrs. Fox died December 29, 1946, and Dr. Fox died December 17, 1950.

They have three living children, Jessie Hawkins, Geraldine Blackman, and Gloria Bronte. Dr. Fox was very interested in the betterment of the community, schools, churches, etc. He was a great advocate of education. He would say, "They can take away your land and money, but no one can take your education."