KCVC Graduates 1896-1899

William Nicholas Hobbs (1896)

William Nicholas Hobbs was one of ten students who graduated from the KCVC in 1896. In Dykstra's review of veterinary pioneers in Kansas (1953), he notes that Dr. W.N. Hobbs was a charter member in 1904 of the KVMA, as was his brother, Dr. Charles Wesley Hobbs (Western Veterinary College, Kansas City, Missouri, 1901). According to Blackmar (1912) in Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Dr. W. N. Hobbs was one of the leading veterinary surgeons of the State of Kansas and a member of a pioneer family of Smith County. The Hobbs family moved from Pike County, Illinois, to Kansas in 1872 and staked a claim in Smith County in the spring of 1872 where they lived in an 18x20 foot log house. The roof was made of poles covered with the bark of cottonwood trees, which was covered with sod and earth, and made a very comfortable pioneer home. There were eight children in the Hobbs family and three of them became veterinarians: Dr. William N. Hobbs (KCVC 1896), Dr. Charles Wesley Hobbs (WVC 1901), and Dr. Daniel H. Hobbs. The Hobbs children began their education in a subscription school in a primitive sod school house in Smith County. They were taught by Miss Nancy Dinwiddie. At that time the school year consisted of a term of only three months, but young Hobbs and his brothers were anxious to obtain an education and improved themselves by self-study, in addition to attending school. Early in life he became interested in the study of medicine, and he and his brother, began reading along medical lines by themselves. Later, they took up the study of veterinary medicine, and when mere boys were considered very capable practical veterinarians and were frequently called to attend sick horses and stock in the neighborhood, and in this way got a great deal of practical experience in early life. In 1894, William Hobbs entered the KCVC, and graduated in the class of 1896 with the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Science. He then located in Holton, Kansas, where he opened a veterinary hospital. He remained in Holton until 1908, when he disposed of his business and moved to Lebanon in Smith County, forming a partnership with his brother, Dr. Daniel H. Hobbs, in the practice of veterinary surgery. From 1911 until 1913 he was also professor of surgery, dentistry and obstetrics at the St. Joseph Veterinary College in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1911-12 he was president of the KVMA, serving two terms. In 1912 he was appointed by the Kansas Livestock Sanitary Commission to study the horse plague, which swept over the State of Kansas in that year. In 1913 he went to Omaha as manager of the Hawkeye Serum Company and in July 1913 disposed of his interests there, and came to Topeka and established the Topeka Serum Company, which he conducted in partnership with his brother, Dr. Daniel H. Hobbs.

James C. Keeley (1896)

James C. Keeley was born in Dungarvan, County of Waterford, Ireland, on February 4, 1868. He went through public schools in that country and came to the United States in 1889. He attended the Harvey Medical College in Chicago for one term. The Harvey Medical College offered night classes and attempted to provide quality medical education to working-class men and women. Keeley was a bookkeeper and salesman with a grocery and provision company for three years and for two years he prospected for gold and silver in Colorado. He enlisted in the 6th U.S. Cavalry in 1892 and afterwards served in the U.S. Army hospital corps. He subsequently entered the KCVC and graduated in 1896 with a D.V.S. degree. He was appointed to the Bureau of Animal industry in Chicago on March 1, 1898, through the civil service examination. He was transferred to the quarantine division at Kansas City on July 12, 1898, and to Indianapolis on February 1, 1900, where he was an Assistant Inspector (Salmon 1901).

John B. Wright (1897)

John B. Wright was born October 21, 1866, in Scotland. He was one of five to graduate from the KCVC in 1897 with a D.V.S. degree. He received his appointment as an Assistant Inspector in the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) from Kansas City, Missouri, through a civil service examination on April 18, 1898 (Salmon 1901). According to the Journal of Comparative Medicine and Veterinary Archives, he attended the nineteenth annual meeting of the Missouri Valley Veterinary Association at the KCVC on February 27, 1898.

William Noble Davis Bird (1898)

William Noble Davis Bird was born in Oswego, Illinois, August 14, 1858. He attended public schools in Chicago and Ithaca (New York) academy and high school. In 1876, he entered Cornell University, taking a four year course in agriculture and veterinary science. He was engaged in stock farming and practiced veterinary medicine and surgery in Kansas for fifteen years, first in Madison, Kansas, from 1880-83 and then in Emporia, Kansas, from 1883-95. He served as county commissioner in Lyon County, Kansas, from 1890 to 1895. On March 15, 1895, he was appointed to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) as stock examiner in the cattle quarantine service at Kansas City. He took a course at the Kansas City Veterinary College, receiving the D.V.S. degree in 1898. On June 1, 1898, he was promoted to Assistant Inspector, after passing the civil service examination. On January 16, 1899, he was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, to supervise movement of southern cattle. He was transferred to St. Louis on October 30, 1899, and to Buffalo, New York on April 9, 1900 (Salmon 1901). Dr. Bird was a student in Cornell University from 1876 till 1880, but he did not take a degree. After he left college he ran a ranch near Emporia, Kansas, for several years. As an inspector with the BAI, he was stationed successively in Joplin, Mo.; Arkansas City, Kan.; along the Mexican border; in Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis, Mo., and finally Buffalo, to which city he went in 1900. Buffalo was the home of Dr. Bird's family. His grandfather, William Augustus Bird, was one of the early settlers of the town and was the first president of the Erie County Savings Bank. Dr. Bird was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He belonged to many veterinary medical societies, the Missouri Valley Veterinary Medical Association, the American Veterinary Medical Association, honorary member of the Tennessee Veterinary Medical Society, and a life member of the Kansas City Veterinary College Society. The Cornell Alumni News reported on December 4, 1913, that Dr. Bird, of Buffalo, was struck and killed by a street car in East Buffalo on Sunday night, November 30, 1913. Dr. Bird was a federal inspector at the stockyards in East Buffalo and was on his way home when the accident occurred. His wife, a daughter, and three sons survived him. One of the sons is Frederick H. Bird, M.E., 1911. (Cornell Alumni News, Volume XVI, No. 10, page 127, December 4, 1913).

John David Cooper (1898)

John David Cooper was born in Kentucky on April 13, 1844. He received his education in the public schools in Kentucky and for several years was engaged in farming and raising livestock, and afterwards in merchandising. He was appointed to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) at Kansas City on November 15, 1894, as a stock examiner. He earned his D.V.S. degree from the KCVC in 1898 when he was nearly 54 years old. On March 1, 1900, he was transferred to Leavenworth, Kansas, and back to Kansas City a month later (Salmon 1901).

Charles H. Davies(1898)

Charles H. Davies was born at Piqua, Ohio, February 4, 1853. He graduated from Piqua High School in 1871, from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia with an M.D. degree in 1877, and from the KCVC with a D.V.S. degree in 1898 at the age of 45. He practiced medicine in Eldorado for fourteen years prior to entering the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI); he was appointed on September 18, 1891 (Salmon 1901). He was on the faculty of the KCVC from 1898-1902, teaching comparative anatomy and comparative therapeutics (Lee 1956). On November 4, 1939, the JAMA reported that Charles H. Davies, Kansas City, Kansas, died on September 16, 1939 at the age of 86 from pernicious anemia and hypostatic pneumonia (JAMA 113:1751, 1939)

James L. Otterman (1898)

James L. Otterman was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1848. He served in the Civil War as a private in Company D., 193rd Regiment, and Company H, 61st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He graduated from Scio College in Ohio in 1869, American Medical College in St. Louis in 1877, Kansas City Medical College in 1894, and the Kansas City Veterinary College in 1898 at the age of 50. He held degrees of M.S., M.D., and D.V.S., and was a registered pharmacist in Missouri and Kansas. He practiced both medicine and pharmacy. He received his appointment in the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) through a civil service examination on August 18, 1898, and was stationed in Louisville, Kentucky. He was transferred to South St. Joseph, Missouri, on December 20, 1898, and to Kansas City on April 8, 1899 (Salmon 1901). He attended the nineteenth regular meeting of the Missouri Valley Veterinary Association on February 27, 1899, at the KCVC and was accepted into membership of the Association at that meeting (J. Comp. Med. Vet. Archives 20:241, 1899; JAVMA 23:136-137, 1899). From 1899-1901, he was on the faculty of the KCVC where he taught materia medica and therapeutics (Lee 1956). He died May 15, 1929 in Emporia, Kansas, from heart disease (JAMA, page 2120, June 22, 1929).

Nelson V. Boyce (1899)

Nelson V. Boyce was born in Preble County, Ohio, October 29, 1857. After completing high school, he attended National Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio, and Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana. He taught school in Ohio and Indiana. He then studied at the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati, graduating with an M.D. degree and practiced medicine for 12 years. He then enrolled in the KCVC, graduating in 1899 with a D.V.S. degree at the age of 42. He was appointed to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) from Kansas City, Kansas, through a civil service examination on June 1, 1900 (Salmon 1901). In 1919, the JAVMA lists Dr. Boyce at 610 Sandusky Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas (JAVMA 54:496, 1919).

Charles E. Steel (1899)

Charles E. Steel was born at North Topeka, Kansas, May 30, 1873. His professional education was acquired at the Ontario Veterinary College (one term) and the Kansas City Veterinary College (two terms), receiving from the latter the D.V.S. degree in 1899. He was appointed to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) at South St. Joseph, Missouri, from Topeka, Kansas, on August 1, 1899, through a civil service examination. On September 15, 1900, he was transferred to the quarantine force at Las Animas, Colorado, inspecting sheep for interstate shipment (Salmon 1901).