MEMOIRS OF WAYNE COUNTY

wtdois;^ a member of the household of Mr. and Mrs. Carr,.-^

White5bk^ed as surveyor of Jay county, Indiana^_jjji-Sra so

dier in the FedeU.army during the Ciidl^yia-ir-CTTtiSfmg from Ind
ana. The mother of~MTS?-Can^^a^--bornTn Jacksonburg, Harrlso

township, Wayne countyrTndiaSa>4^v. 27, 1848, and her father wd

Samuel Carrj_3jwtt^of RockinghanT"mmy, Virginia. He cam

to Indkna^out 1836 and located in Jack^Oftb^g, where he foj

lo^ed^lacksmithing and also had a farm. Mr. anfi^s. Carr haJ
,^c^on, J. Hervey, who adds brightness to the family hSttb.
]
Doctor Joseph Marshall Thurston, a physician and surgeon 0
the city of Richmond, was born on an island in the Little Miara

river, just below Fosters, Ohio, July 2, 1841, son of William am

Delilah (Miller) Thurston, the former of English and the latte

of Scotch descent. The parents were both very young when the*
parents immigrated to Warren county, Ohio, the father's paren
from Virginia, the mother's from Massachusetts. They lived 01
useful and Christian lives in Warren and Clinton counties, Ohi
both being consistent members of the Presbyterian church lo

before they were married. William H. Thurston was a miller,

was his father before him. In early days, when water mills wt,
plenty, he operated several mills on the Miami river; one, Mo

row's mill, in partnership with Governor Morrow, whose son Jami

worked in the mill. He held Joseph M. Thurston, sleeping in h

arms, sitting under a large sycamore tree, while breaking out wi
smallpox, from which he died. The maternal grandfather, Hen.
Miller, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a noted India
scout. William H. Thurston and wife were the parents of eleve

children, surely a Rooseveltian family.

The second and thir,

bornWilliam H. and Henry Harrison (the latter named afte

General Harrison)died in childhood; Jacob H. practiced medi

cine and died at Springfield, Ohio; John M. is living at Daytoi
Ohio; George W. and David, the former of whom served on Gei
eral Kilpatrick's staff, and the latter of whom also was a soldier i

the Federal army during the Civil war, are both deceased; Sara

C. is deceased; Martha L. (Brandt) lives at Seattle; James

lives at Dresden, Ohio; and Eli H. is a physician and surgeo
practicing at Hagerstown, Ind. Joseph M. Thurston, the subje
of this narrative, received his education at the very excellent school
of Washington Court House, Ohio. From early youth he was i
sober, industrious boy. His mother, when he could sit alone, gavt
him a hammer, a ball, and a book to play with, and, according to i
superstition of the time, watched which the baby would take hoi
of first. It was the book; which proved to portend his future, fo
books have been his delight all through life, and today he is liter
ally surrounded with books of every kind. Very early in child
hood his pious mother discovered a remarkable turn of mind to

wards philosophy, religion, and later on toward scientific subjects

so she decided that "Josie" should be an eminent Presbyterian min
ister; but alas! the fond mother's dream was not realized.

Hii

boyhood early leaned toward the science of medicine, and a play

house medical office and sign announced that all ills would b(

',,

jD;%

OF WAYNE COUNTY

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lousehold of Mr . .

of Jay county 'inH*^

fe.

'Og the Civil war .

frwas born in Tarl
'ana, Nov. 27
kingham

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DR. JOSEPH MARSHALL THURSTON.

biographical

. MUsectine room, carefully built to be as

'
the scene of many post-mortem examinai2,ibl. ^ H,rtles
frogs, etc., whose untimely demise
to the health officer. At the ^e of

t Kw'ly
i'?'^tudrrnedicine
in the office of Dr. Davis,
C
. "^Jhere he remained lor a year, uniii. one
whe?e
Miund. Ohio,
Ohio, wh
wh
-

he remained
for a^ year,
until ffrom
one
jjy papers
village. The daily

tl^rtiinff news that Fort Sumter had been

rfOuK*!'-In's call for 75,000 volunteer soldiers. To5;d UL""^ther boy associates he went to Columbus
L
^me [cn
J^cn o
Second Ohio reg^iments
^ iMjme

^ckKk lhaf " I, -Joseph becoming a member of Com-

'rfufid Ohio tnre months volunteers.

They immediately
Their sounded
first acquaintance
with
Washingt .
at the shooting

wh"

"aiworth, 01

famous Ellsworth Zouaves, and their

battle of Bull Run, early in

ftie was the first
battle of Bull Run, early in
Al^iVr his three-months service, in which he enlisted
SB.-"-*
knowledge or consent, Joseph promised his

ki# parcntt k ^
withstand the temptation
10 ^/h'the^st of the boys, and on July 23, 1862, reinfantry.
Company
F, and they
was made
JgE^l^lht vnnetieth^ Ohio
s' drilling
at Camp
Cirdeville
were

to re-eSorce thf Federal forces at the battle of

U'
* ^^.herc our
were guard
being and
badlythey
defeated.
Ky.
^ ^troops
advance
arrived Joon
troopsTenn.
The marchwhole
^b*Hkfteld time to meet the retreating
Nashville,

iww

u.. weather and with scarcity of water, day

hours' rest at Frankfort, and

^^N..hvillc
after four days and nights of hard marching, a
V Jn anH exhausted set of raw troops. In a few weeks
aniaed and rec^ who
and was
set ont
after the Confedmifm
compelled to retreat

iSi'bU"'
Na^vMle aftef the hard fought bate of Stone's
Srf Thf subject of our narrative served in a number of capac*3?!

ward master, and acting assistant surgeon in the

ward after the battle of Stone s River, at Hospital No. 14.

; was color guard at the battles of Murfreesboro, Shelbyifid Wild Cat Mountain; regimental bugler; a scout, and on
jfejiy fBida. He was finally xaptured at the two-days battle of
He was held a prisoner a year and fourteen days,

te 1 di'iagreement between the Confederate and Federal

^^^aneoH. Scurvy, smallpox and typhus fever made sad
m thf more than 8.000 Federal prisoners captured at the battle
|f:fiy^*tnauga. The scant diet of coarse, unsalted corn bread,

' IfiHiHMll water, with an occasional cup of soup made 01

f^i^ tiugry bacon and dirty canal water, made a rich soil for disiii*:; At Danville, Va., Joseph managed to get on the good side

tjiM^fderalc officers, and was let out of prison and given charge
w iM mnjx}x hospitals, signing a parol of honor not to escape.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

hicb vitalist doctrine avows that the living body is not a

fps** . g run by
vj
^^hinc V" .

onvi the
mc various
vdiiuub forces
luiccs of
oi the
tncchemistry,1 physics
and
j

i__. _ . . ,
.
.

-r _ _.:*^i

but is a vital realm, dominated by an inherent, immate-

* vital-ent'^y or principle which, both in health, and disease,

initial causation of all functional activities; that this inherent
0 force is capable, from one single organic cellthe fertilized
build up systematically and unerringly a living, sentient

and is ever loyal to its physiologic or healthful well being,

rt in resisting inimical invasions of the living body, and when

' 0 Jl^^invaded
by anything inimical to its iiuiiiitti
normal iic<iiLii
health standard.
t* invaueu
aidiiuaiu,

* m*** force immediately

w i into
aa
&A
Irtval vital
springs
resistive
andA
elimir

.
warfare;
which functional1 aberrant activity is
erroneously

-.e- lOV^

ikti

malevolent disease, when in fact, from a vitalist standpoint,

fri

benevolent effort of the inherent vital-entity to resist and

Sialnatc
inimical invasion of the vital realm, which is an intissue-state or the condition of disease. It is therefore, the
y^ician's duty to remove the disease condition or cause, when
Sftymptoms of disease will subside. When the doctor fights to
y^uc the so-called "fever," he is simply fighting the symptoms,
of straw; if he strives to remove the disease germ-invasion

place the vital resistance of the living body in a high plane

^viul and functional activitiy, the febrile symptoms soon subleaving the patient in a good condition with no ill effects re-

mlling from narcotics and "fever subduers." The Doctor is a

ieniist and philosopher of no mean ability. Although modest to
I fault and abhorring public notoriety, he has been a prolific writer
Kjf the public press, snatching time from a busy practice to dis(uaa Mime political, religious, or philosophical question of the hour
te the daily papers. He is a fearless writer, and without fear or
fawr has the courage of his convictions. In medicine the Doctor
il broad and liberal, but very ethical with his brother physicians.
)U i a fellow of the British Association of Medical Herbalists; a
ittcmbcr of the International Medical Congress, by which he was
Awarded a badge for a paper on "Vital Therapeutics." In religion
bf ia also broad minded.

When a student the first medical books

be bought included a handy edition of the Bible, which ever since

bta been with his extensive medical library and has been read
M much as his medical text-books. He says he can get a Biblical
r'Hjfirmation of every medical and scientific problem. He holds
iKat the term Christian Science is a misnomer, but believes there

b lucli a thing as a scientific proof of the teachings of Jesus Christ;

in other words, a scientific practice of Christianity. He can give

many personal experiences in" practice where undoubtedly the

Truth of Christ, the Holy Ghost, fervently invoked for aid, has
r*jM)nded through the inherent vital principle within every living

'hhig. and the greatest, grandest gift of God to man has brought
the patient back to health again when all material remedies had
liwled. His patients know nothing of the source. He never prays
iidibly in the presence of patients; in fact, he never prays in pub-

Jtc. but believes in secret communication through the Truth of

Christ with his God, which he deems too sacred "to be heard of

A,

.-A'

MEMOIRS OF WAYNE COUNTY

an elder in the First Presbyterian ri,

mond, he has no sympathy with an orthodox relirion 5? Ricii

t,?a'
I" hisalong
left^aL
theright
does tohelp the poor"t
andtoneedy
-comr'K"""'

h^anX"
d'h
" . ='-1' for thM,'^,.-'i!^'
In
polities, a
he isn
alsV^r^ld,
aid altrugTrKbr

sympathy with machine politics, always votioP- for

iTmliribelieves
tiia?
himself has not had severe sickness
and misfortun/
sympathize with his sick and troubled patients - and
has seen hardships and experienced severe sicknet
twice suffered from severe scepticema or blood nnkn^'
dently received in surgical operations; had a severe
dice; an attack of hemi-plegia or paralysis of the enti

*H
1

the stroke rendering him unconscious for three an3 a /'.f''i!

and for a week he could not swallow a drop S nourfshr^^

was sixty-two years old when stricken, and to-day (Sent " ^
hI
more supple than when fifty, without a trace of anv fn
K
organic disease, and expects to continue the practice nf ^
^
at past seventy, the Doctor is in perfect health

and surgery until he is ninety; then will retfre an?

long vacation. This excellent condition, physically and

after passing through all army exposure and

strenuous professional work of fortv-five years and ah'

*
sickness, he unhesitatingly attributes to his hndfi?
^
the psychic Kingdom of God within him Hp hi

or alcoholfc
drinks,
sah fooTmX
hM
orbacco
drmks,
coffee, tea,
milkhasor Irnse
cream. The DoctorVSe
"There is so much In life to live for

bo much in death to die for,

nothing in the universe

Which human kind should sigh for."

zens ofXVayne county,

has long maintained his home in Ahi

venerable
and honored
where
his parents
took upnative-born
their s

life^^ff
V
continued to reside nearlv all of hi
hi!" K ^fs^eared to manhood in Union county ne
tMc secnon
?
pn>^ege to
witnessonand
in the'd^telopnicnt
this
which^s
virtuaUy
the aid
frontieJfthe
time oT

birth. He has made^s life count for good

been progressive and^blic-spirited

its relations !

achLved aTor

co?fidP and esteem

affair^he
whil^^nianding
the uneq^
confidence
of fiLieJki^
men. In a?cor?n??ecn
Hcpc >^

sterlmg citi2e^>^ publication of thi= nature

toZshl 'ZvT
Thomas T and R

was born .n AbiyS!

.^"diana, Kqb. 28, 1835. the eldest son of

Sta^?of
(Bennett) CoKm. the former born in tte
Indiana
J' father was
lattera^ative
of Union
county,
ndiai^--Tn early' *rr
life the
a bl^smith
and followril