Dr. B. W. Searle

SEARLE, WILLIAMS, SPILMAN, HERRICK, LAFORCE, SHEAFE, EDGERLY

Posted By: John Evan Davis (email)
Date: 11/14/2014 at 23:29:11

Ottumwa tri-weekly courier, February 18, 1911
DEATH ENDS HARD FIGHT
DR. SEARLE SUCCUMBS AFTER TWO WEEKS AT CHICAGO HOSPITAL
—HAD BEEN ILL A LONG TIME—A PIONEER DOCTOR.
After an Illness that had gradually sapped away his vitality for some time past and to overcome which he left for the Wesley hospital at Chicago February 1, to undergo an operation, Dr. B. W. Searle died last evening in Chicago at 6 o'clock. His remains will be brought to Ottumwa on Burlington No. 1 tonight.
A Pioneer of County.
The death of Dr. Searle, while not entirely unexpected, comes as a shock to his numerous friends, many of whom have held him in the highest esteem for the past forty years and even, longer. Dr. Searle was one of the pioneers in the medical profession in Wapello County, having been a practitioner in both Dahlonega and Ottumwa, the former place being where he located first and lived for many years after coming to the county. Few physicians typify the old family doctor in the community better than did Dr. Searle whose clientele, in the district lying to the north of Ottumwa in the days gone past took in almost every one in that vicinity and all knew the venerable soldierly appearing doctor, for his career as assistant army surgeon left the impress of the soldier about him.
Surgeon in Army.
Dr. Searle was 70 years of age at the time of his death and had lived in Iowa nearly half a century, having come to the state in an early day. He enlisted in Co. I., 1st Iowa cavalry and served through the civil war. While in the army he was detailed by Dr. D. A. La Force, another of Ottumwa's venerable physicians, who was surgeon of the 56th regiment with the rank of the 56th regiment and served with Dr. La Force until the close of the war, after which he practiced medicine in Wapello County at Dahlonega.
On Pension Board.
Many years ago Dr. Searle came to Ottumwa to reside having located his home on the outskirts of the city to the north and the family home is one of the nicest homesteads in the vicinity of the Country club. Dr. Searle is a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College of an early day class and is one of the real pioneers of the medical profession in Ottumwa and Wapello County. He has been a consistent member of the First M. E. church and a loyal comrade In Cloutman Post. G. A. R. For a number of years with Doctors D. A. La Force and A. O. Williams he has constituted the pension board of this county. He was one of the senior members of the Wapello County Medical society. A committee of the local physicians will meet the remains upon the arrival here this evening. The body will be accompanied by his son, Charles Searle and wife. The widow, of the dead physician and son Fred, who have been at the bedside for the past few days will arrive this afternoon on No. 9 at 4:33 o'clock. The funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier, February 21, 1911
DR. B, W. SEARLE.
Ottumwa has lost one of its best citizens by the death of B. W. Searle. Since the close of the civil war, in
which he served as surgeon, Dr. Searle has practiced his profession, in Ottumwa and Wapello County. He was
one of the pioneer band of physicians who aided in the up building of a new country. He left the medical school to
give his services to his country and aid by his professional skill in alleviating the sufferings of the wounded on
the battlefield. When the war closed he settled in Wapello County, then little more than a wilderness, and shared
the hardships of the early settlers. The profession of medicine calls for self-sacrifice and imposes hardships that are unknown in other professions. This was especially true in the early days when the pioneer settlements were scattered about the county, and the physician was called from his bed at all hours of the day or night, to make drives in snow and wind and rain over unbroken roads to the bed side of the sick and dying. That he endured a life of such hardship and attained the allotted span of three score and ten, gives evidence of right living. There is consolation for the loved ones left to mourn in the knowledge that here was a life well spent, a life that was spared until the close of a half century of service for his fellow man.
TRIBUTE PAID TO DR. SEARLE
FUNERAL SERVICES OF LATE PHYSICIAN PARTICIPATED IN BY MANY
Sincere tribute to the memory of Dr. B. W. Searle was-paid Sunday afternoon at the funeral services in the
First M. E. church, where a large concourse of friends gathered to show their reverence and honor for a
man, whose life demanded the respect of all who knew him. Rev. T. W. Jeffrey, pastor of the church, gave
praise to the dead physician in his opening prayer, and later in the funereal address, the minister referred to the
life of the decedent as an inspiration. The funeral cortege arrived at the church at 2 o'clock. Eloquent testimony of the high esteem in which Dr. Searle was held was given in the many pretty floral pieces which completely filled the pulpit circle. On the casket was a beautiful panel of lavender sweet peas and smilax. Seats in the front of the church were reserved for the bereaved family, the old soldier comrades of Dr. Searle and the members of the Wapello County Medical society. Following the funeral service the casket was opened and the friends of the deceased viewed the remains. At the Searle home Dr. T. J. Myers, of Mt. Pleasant, a brother-in-law of Dr.
Searle, gave a short prayer, and at the last resting place in the Ottumwa cemetery, Cloutman post conducted the
G. A. R. ritual services. Major A. H. Hamilton, as chaplain, offered prayer. The song service at the church included three numbers by the "Ottumwan," a quartet composed of Edward Weeks, F. L. Daggett, Grant Keyhoe and Burchard Peck. "The Riches of Love," "The Beautiful Land," and “The Christian's Good Night" were the numbers. Rev. J. C. Kendrick, a brother comrade of the deceased physician, read the scripture lesson, a part of the fifteen chapter of the First Corinthians. Dr. Jeffrey followed with a prayer, in which he touched on the certainty of death, the attendant sorrow that always accompanies it, and ask the blessings of the Master on the bereaved family. "Dr. Searle," said the minister, was a good man, whose footfall was welcomed by countless people who held out the hope that the physician would drive death from their pillows." The Master was implored to make strong the widow and sons of the decedent that they might more easily bear their great loss. The sincere expressions were concluded with a brief reference to the genuinely good life lead by Dr. Searle and with the statement that such lives proved inspirations of untold value. In the funeral address, given following the reading of Dr. Searle's obituary, the minister touched upon the life of the deceased as a soldier, a physician and a business man, holding him up as a man strong in all the characteristics of a good Christian, an honest, straightforward citizen, whose loss will be keenly felt by the entire community. Dr. Searle's career as a father and a husband, and his ever present smile and kindly disposition were mentioned by the minister as things that would help console the bereaved family in this, their hour of sorrow. Members of the Wapello County Medical society acted as ushers at the church and the following co-workers of the dead physician were the pallbearers: Doctors A. O. Williams, S. A. Spilman, F. Herrick, W. B. LaForce, E. A. Sheafe, and E. T. Edgerly.