Edward C. Rawson, M. D. is
one of the able and representative physicians and
surgeons of Clayton county and is engaged in the
successful general practice of his profession at
Strawberry Point, in which attractive little city of
the present day he was born on the 8th of April,
1866.
It is most gratifying to
note the prominence and popularity which are his in
his native county, both as a liberal citizen and as a
physician of fine attainments, for he is not only a
scion of one of the honored pioneer families of the
county but is also a son of one of the honored
pioneer physicians and surgeons of this section of
the Hawkeye state. Dr. Edward Clark Rawson is a son
of Dr. Clark Holden Rawson and Caroline A. (Brownell)
Rawson, whose marriage was solemnized at Strawberry
Point, on the 28th of December, 1858, the former
having been born in the state of New York and the
latter in Wisconsin. Dr. Clark H. Rawson's parents
were native of England and after coming to America
they maintained their home in the state of New York,
where their son, Clark H., was born and reared and
where he received excellent educational advantages,
as gauged by the standards of the locality and
period. The Doctor studied medicine under the
preceptorage of his brother-in-law, Dr. H. S. Potter,
of Schroon Lake, Essex county, New York, and he
supplemented this discipline by an effective course
in a medical college at Castleton, Vermont—an
institution in which he was graduated as a member of
the class of 1844. Thereafter he was for several
years associated in practice with his former
preceptor, Dr. Potter, at Schroon Lake, New York, and
he then removed to the eastern part of the state of
Illinois, where he engaged in practice with marked
success and where he made a splendid record of
professional service during the cholera epidemic that
prevailed in that section in 1854. In 1857 the Doctor
came to Clayton county, Iowa, and established his
residence at Strawberry Point, where he engaged in
practice and where his marriage was solemnized in the
following year, as previously noted in this context,
his wife having becoming a resident of Strawberry
Point in 1853, when her parents here established
their home. The ability and indefatigable zeal of Dr.
Rawson gained to him a substantial and widely
disseminated practice, and in the pioneer days he
endured, without faltering and with unselfish
devotion, many arduous labors and incidental
hardships in ministering to those in affliction
throughout a wide radius of country that was sparsely
settled and that had roads that at many times were
almost impassable. He never denied the calls made
upon him, no matter how stormy the night or how great
the distance he was compelled to traverse, and thus
it may well be understood that there was ample cause
for the affectionate esteem which was granted to him
in which he long lived and labored and in which his
very presence was a benediction. He continued in
active practice until advancing years led to his
retirement, and, revered by all who knew him, he
passed to eternal rest on the 28th of July, 1901,
when 83 years of age. His widow still resides in the
attractive old homestead that has been her place of
abode for more than half a century, and she
celebrated in 1916 her seventy-seventh birthday
anniversary. A kindly and gracious gentle woman, she
is loved by all who have come within the compass of
her influence, and is one of the honored pioneer
women of Clayton county.
Dr. Edward C. Rawson, the
only child of his parents, acquired his early
education in the public schools of Strawberry Point
and as a youth he was inspired to adopt the
profession that was signally honored by the character
and services of his father, under whose direction he
gained his preliminary training. He finally went to
the city of Chicago and entered the medical school of
Northwestern University, and in this celebrated
institution he was graduated as a member of the class
of 1891 and with the well-earned degree of Doctor of
Medicine. He initiated the active practice of his
profession in his native town, on the 28th of April,
1891, and became the virtual successor of his honored
father, He has long controlled a large and
representative practice and has secure prestige as
one of the leading physicians and surgeons of his
native county. He is an active member of the Clayton
County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. The
Doctor continues a close and appreciative student of
the best standard and periodical literature of his
profession and spares neither time nor effort in
keeping in close touch with the advances made in
medical and surgical science.
His political allegiance is
given to the Republican party and he is affiliated
with the local lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted
Masons and that of the Knights of Pythias, of which
latter he has served as chancellor commander.
June 8, 1892, recorded the
marriage of Dr. Rawson to Miss Gertrude E. Gilchrist,
who likewise was born and reared in this county, and
of the two children of this union only the younger is
living, Rayma G., who was born November 10, 1903. Don
M., the first child, was born December 4, 1896, and
his death occurred March 13, 1902.
source: History of
Clayton County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical
Times Down to the Present; by Realto E. Price,
Vol. II; pg. 338-339
-OCR scanned by S. Ferrall
