This week’s McCarter Museum Memory remembers some of our Tonkawa Physicians. The Dr. Room at the museum houses vintage medical equipment and a rare look back at the history of rural medicine. Dr. J.A. Jones came to Tonkawa in 1900. He loved the Tonkawa community and cared for his patients until his death in 1933. You can find his original leather examination table and a few tools he used on display. Dr. Ethan Esley Waggoner came to Kay County in 1894, just six months after the opening of the strip. He was one of seven students in his graduating class in Ponca City (1905) and went on to Pre-Med at OU. His first office was established over the Freeman’s Drug Store and later moved to 113 W. Grand. He spent many years attending to patients in their homes, sometimes crossing Bird’s Nest Creek in horse and buggy. In 1952 an office and reception room was added to his home at 909 E. Grand. Framed history of his career on the wall tells of when he delivered over 243 babies during the oil boom.
Dr. Dewey L.Mathews graduated from the University of TX and moved to Tonkawa in 1926. He spent over 40 years as the Northern Oklahoma College Physician, retiring in 1982. Dr. Kenton Ellerson Nesbit served the Tonkawa community with his dental practice for 47 years before his retirement. Showcased is his original office sign.
If you have a memory of one of Tonkawa’s Physicians from the past, please share it on our Tonkawa’s Historical Society Facebook page. We would love to hear it. Also, stop by the museum and say hello sometime!
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