J. D. Burns M. D.

BURNS, WILLIAMS, KEITH, MILLS

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/10/2011 at 13:56:07

J. D. BURNS, M. D., is one of the leading physicians of Grundy County. The record of his life is as follows: He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, February 5, 1848, and is a son of the Rev. Andrew Burns, who was born in Pennsylvania and emigrated to Ohio in 1828. When a young man he settled in the eastern part of the state, but afterward removed to Ashland County. He became a preacher of the Christian Church, and followed the ministry all his life. He was born in 1813, and died in Chagrin Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, in January, 1881. His wife, the mother of our subject, bore the maiden name of Sarah Williams. They were married in Ashland County, and became the parents of nine children, five of whom are still living. The Doctor’s father was three times married, and by his third union had three children, who are still living. He preached at Ashland, Mansfield, Millersburg, Mt. Vernon, Gallian, Fairfield, Medina, Wooster and Shelby, and during the last twelve years of his life did evangelical work. He was a prominent minister in the Christian Church in Ohio.

When a child of two years, the Doctor went with his parents to Richland County, Ohio, where he spent ten years, and then went to Huron County, where he remained until twenty years of age. In 1866 he entered the Southwestern Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, and in 1868 was graduated from that institution in the scientific course. He began reading medicine with Dr. D. M. Keith, and in September, 1868, he entered the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, from which he was graduated February 8, 1870. He then located in Lincoln, Neb., where he practiced for eighteen months, during which time he served as County Physician of Lancaster County. He then went to Rockford, Ill., where he practiced until March 8, 1878. During that time he served as Coroner for two years, and held the inquest over the thirteen people who were killed by the fall of the court house at that place in 1877.

In April, 1878, Doctor Burns located in Grundy Centre, where he has since engaged in practice. From 1885 to 1891 he served as Coroner of Grundy County, and is now the candidate on the Republican ticket for that office. For five years the Doctor engaged in medical practice according to the eclectic school, but in 1889 he was graduated from the Chicago Homeopathic College, and has since practiced according to its teachings.

On the 2d of March, 1870, was celebrated the marriage of Doctor Burns and Miss Mary Ann, daughter of David Mills, a farmer and stock-raiser of Winnebago County, Ill. The lady was born and reared in Cayuga County, N. Y. By their union they have three daughters: Edith, Anna and Flossie.

The Doctor has always been identified with the Republican party, for he was taught its principles from an early age. His father was a stanch Abolitionist, and his home was a station on the famous Underground Railroad. He became Chaplain of the Sixty-fifth Ohio Infantry. Barney Burns, an uncle of our subject, was Colonel of the Eighty-sixth Ohio Regiment. His brother, A. M. Burns, was Major of the Fifteenth Ohio Infantry. Another brother of the Doctor served in Company H, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, and still another brother was in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment, while he himself entered the service March 28, 1865, and became First Duty Sergeant of Company B, One Hundred and Ninety-eighth Ohio Infantry. The Burns family certainly bore its part in preserving the Union. The Doctor now belongs to Wilson Post No. 71, G. A. R. He was a member of the Board of Pension Examiners of Grundy County from 1889 to 1891, and has been a member of the Board of Education of Grundy Centre for four years.

Our subject is Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias lodge, and also holds membership with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he has served as Master Workman. He belongs to the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Hahnemann Medical Association of Iowa, and has read many valuable and interesting papers before that society. He has also made valuable contributions to medical journals. He is a close student of his profession, and his skill and ability have not only gained him a high reputation, but have won him what is undoubtedly the largest practice in the county.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record
of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa
1894