Dodd City, Texas - 150 Years
September 8, 1873 – 2023
12th in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks
Dodd City Medical History
We have researched over thirty medical professionals who practiced in the Dodd City area. This article continues the story of our town’s medical history from article #11.
In 1894 Dr. T.K. Proctor, a Dodd City surgeon, and others performed an amazing surgery on Alva Moore. Dr. Proctor was here about five years then moved to Sulphur Springs.
Dr. Amos W. Short, like most of the doctors, was very ambitious. He finished second in his class at Nashville, Tennessee. Following medical college, he moved to Texas and settled near the Onstott survey northeast of Dodd City. In addition to his practice, he started his own town called Shortsberg, Texas and owned the biggest molasses mill in Fannin County.
He was a cotton buyer who owned a Confectionery/Soda Fountain as well as the Bonham Bottling Works. He sold the bottling plant in 1913 per the clips below. He practiced medicine in Paris, Bonham and was in Dodd City from 1900 to 1906; following his death he was buried in the Dodd City cemetery*.
Dr. M. Hook and Dr. A. Nedder were in Dodd City at Dickey Bros. & Morris on 22nd of each month per the Dodd City News - 1903 Feb. 27
Dr. Samuel Love Dickey* practiced from about 1867 to 1906 when he retired because of health reasons. Dr. Macon Donaldson* purchased his drug store business and “hung out his shingle.” Dr. Donaldson would eventually become a city health officer in Dodd City.**
There have been many doctors in and out of the Dodd City area through the years and we are sure we have
not found all of them. These professionals have a great story to tell. Below are a few more we have uncovered in our search into the past:
Dentists: John Rogers & J.L. Buchanan
Medical Doctors: J.C. Provine, William Gambill*, T.Vance Richards, L. B. Estes, Dr. Brown, William Young Ward*, John J. Gill, N.D. Hampton*
After the automobile arrived on the scene, fewer doctors came to the small towns because it was easier to have a patient to come to an office in a town with a hospital. The early 1940s closed the chapter on doctors in Dodd City. Dr. Ward and Dr. John W. VanNoy passed away and Dr. Donaldson moved his practice to Bonham.
This doesn’t mean the book can’t have another chapter added to it in the future! In the 1970s our family depended on a sweet lady who went back to school after her children were grown to become a nurse. Mrs. Blanche Hill* was our “doctor” on Caney street in Dodd City and we were thankful she was available!
MORE HISTORY at:
*Fannin GenWeb https://www.txfannin.org/cemeteries
**Millard Brent’s The History of Dodd City, Texas Pg. 20-22 available at: Fannin County Museum of History
Email us at DoddCity1873@gmail.com with your story or pictures of Dodd City.
