Shrader, J. A., Dr.

SHRADER, LEMON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/15/2009 at 09:25:05

Dr. J. A. Shrader

Among those, who for many years have devoted their lives to the cause of suffering humanity, J. A. Shrader may be regarded as among the foremost, and in pursuing the noble calling of medicine he has won golden laurels for himself. The physician comes closer to the confidence of his patients than any other man is privileged to do with his fellowman. In the hour of agony, which comes to the household when a loved one is stricken with a dread disease, the doctor is the one stay and hope of the family. It is especially pleasing to reflect that it is a most rare exception that a medical man is false to his trust. An exalted sense of honor pervades the entire profession.

Dr. J. A. Shrader was born in Washington County, Ohio, May 27, 1842, and in tracing back his ancestry we find that be has Scotch, Irish, German and English blood in his veins. His grandfather, John Shrader, had a contract for furnishing the supplies to Perry's Army, on Lake Erie, daring the War of 1812. The Doctor's mother was the daughter of Charles Melvin, who was a noted sea captain. He was seven times ship wrecked, and was captured by the English during the War of 1812, and was held until the cessation of hostilities.

The Shrader family was among the earliest settlers of Ohio, and many of its members became men of note. Dr. Jackson Shrader, an uncle of our subject, who was a noted physician and surgeon in his day in Ohio, later in life turned his attention to the legal profession and was an orator of some note. Another uncle, Phillip Shrader, has been Postmaster in Washington County, Ohio, for more than sixty years, and although now eighty-eight years of ago still holds that position. A brother of the Doctor is one of the professors in the medical department of the Iowa State University and is a man of considerable prominence.

It was a lucky thing for Doctor Shrader, as it is for thousands of our best citizens at present, to have been reared on a farm in the country, away from the contaminating influences of the city. Part of his time was spent on the farm, and part in a flouring mill, and he was thoroughly educated, mastering Greek and Latin at an early age. In 1861 he enlisted in Company G, Sixty-third Ohio Infantry, when not yet nineteen years of age, but he felt that he had a duty to perform. His first battles were at Island No. 10 and New Madrid. In 1863 he was severely wounded in the chest and was compelled to leave his regiment. He has suffered all through life from this wound. After his return, Governor Kirkwood gave him a special commission to go south on special duty for the State of Iowa.

After the war, our subject read medicine with his uncle, Dr. A. J. Shrader. He took lectures at the Iowa Medical College at Keokuk in 1865, and subsequently commenced practicing with his uncle. Later he spent three years in Kansas, and was then with his brother at Iowa City for a time. From there he went to Red Rock, Iowa, where he practiced his profession until 1883, when he came to Monroe, where he engaged in the drug business. This he has continued successfully ever since. He has ever been prominent in Grand Army circles, being Commander of the post at Monroe for several terms, and was a delegate to the National Convention at Washington. He organized the Knights Of Pythias lodge at Monroe. In politics he has been a life long Democrat, and was nominated for State Representative in Marion County while living there, but refused to run.

The Doctor has been twice married, the last time in 1881 to Miss Callie F. Lemon. He has five children. Fredrick L. is at home; Virgel C. is also at home; Grace, Lulu and Mary, aged respectively, fifteen, eleven and nine years, are at home. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 162.