OLIVER W. FOXWORTHY, M.D.
Dr. Oliver Foxworthy, a
prominent and able representative of the medical profession in Decatur county,
Iowa, has been continuously engaged in practice at Leon for the past thirteen
years. His birth occurred in Mercer
county, Missouri, on the 8th of February, 1855. His father, Mason Foxworthy, was a native of
Kentucky and removed with his parents to Indiana when a youth of about ten
years. Subsequently, in 1854, he took up
his abode among the pioneer settlers of Mercer county, Missouri, and in 1860
came to Decatur county, Iowa. In 1871 he
located at Lineville, Iowa, and there spent the remainder of his life, passing
away on the 8th of January, 1902, when eighty-one years of age. His wife still survives at the age of
eighty-eight and is well known and highly esteemed throughout the communities
in which she has resided. To them were
born nine children, as follows: Mary F.;
Jane, who died at the age of six years; Amanda, who passed away when four years
old; Oliver W. of this review; Victor E.; Louella, the wife of A. L. Lesan;
William, who died when a lad of six years; Rosa, who passed away at the age of
twenty-one; and Nelly, who gave her hand in marriage to A. E. Jordan.
Oliver W. Foxworthy, who was
but five years of age when his parents established their home in this county,
acquired his education in the graded and high schools of Lineville, Wayne
county, and subsequently followed the profession of teaching for three years. He then entered the State Normal School at
Kirksville, Missouri, and was graduated from that institution with the degree
of Bachelor of Science in 1881. Having
determined upon a professional career, he began reading medicine under the
direction of Dr. E. Glendenning, of Lineville, Iowa, and later entered the
Physicians and Surgeons Medical College of Keokuk, Iowa, from which he was
graduated on the 26th of February, 1884. On the 1st of April following he
began practice at Weldon, Decatur county, Iowa, and in 1892 pursued a
post-graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic College, while subsequently, in
1902, he did post-graduate work in the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical College of
Chicago. In 1902 he located at Leon,
Iowa, and has here remained continuously since, enjoying a large and lucrative
practice. With the steady progress of
the profession he keeps in close touch through his membership in the Decatur
County Medical Society, the Southwestern Medical Association, the Iowa State
Medical Society ad the American Medical Association, and for five years he
served as councilor for the eighth congressional district of the Iowa State
Medical Society. The Doctor is a man of
large means and owns several farms which he leases and which return to him a
handsome income. On the 13th
of April, 1879, Dr. Foxworthy was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Elizabeth
Wilis. He father was a native of Hanover
county, Virginia, and an agriculturist by occupation. Dr. and Mrs. Foxworthy have one daughter,
Ollie Elizabeth, who is a graduate of the Leon high school and now attends
Drake University.
Dr. Foxworthy gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is an active worker in its ranks, having several times served as a delegate to the state and other conventions of the party. For four years he acted as chairman of the republican county central committee of Decatur county, and he has made a number of campaign speeches, especially in opposition to the liquor traffic. For several years he has served as a member of the school board, acting as its president for one year, and for several years he also held the office of trustee of Franklin township. From 1912 until 1914 he served as mayor of Leon, Iowa, giving to the town a most public-spirited and beneficial administration, characterized by many measures of reform and improvement. In fraternal circles he is prominently known as a Mason, having passed the chairs in the blue lodge and been a representative thereof to the grand lodge and having served as treasurer of Tripolis Commandery No. 60 K. T., for many years. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Through professional, public and fraternal connections Dr Foxworthy has become so widely and favorably known that his record cannot fail to prove of interest to the great majority of our readers.