| 266 cont'd | HISTORY OF ALLEN AND |
FRANKLIN RICHARDS.
FRANKLIN RICHARDS, M. D.—Although one of the youngest members of the medical fraternity of Kansas, Dr. Richards' years seem no bar to his success, and in LaHarpe, where he is located, he has gained a liberal patronage that indicates confidence reposed by the public in his skill and ability.
The Doctor is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Canton, on the 17th of March, 1874. He belongs to one of the old families of that place, his ancestors for several generations having resided in that city. His father removed to Nebraska in 1887, and engaged in the drug business with his eldest son in Shadron, where he is still located. He was a man of practical common sense and sound judgment who believed in preparing his children for the responsible duties of life and thus Dr. Richards was trained to habits of industry in his youth. He completed his literary education in the high school of Milford, Nebraska, after which he began the study of medicine with the intention of making its practice his life work. This resolution probably had its beginning with him when he was very young. When a little lad of four years he was crippled through an accident and the old family physician who attended him told him that he must become a doctor. Franklin never forgot the advice of this worthy man and after completing the high school course he began the study of medicine in the fall of 1893 as a student in the Eclectic Medical College of Lincoln, where he remained for two years. Subsequently he entered the Williams Medical College of Kansas City, Missouri, but was graduated in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1897. He is now a member of the State Eclectic Society of Nebraska.
After his graduation Dr. Richards located in Centerville, Linn County, Kansas, remaining two years, when he removed to LaHarpe, Allen County, in 1899. He has since gained a large and lucrative patronage and the profession and the public acknowledge his worthiness. He is a close and discriminating student and by perusal of medical journals he keeps in touch with the progress that is being continually made in the medical fraternity.
On the 23rd of December, 1893 in Lincoln, Nebraska, Dr. Richards was united in marriage to Miss Emma Bowman, of Magnolia, Ohio. She is a daughter of L. D. Bowman, a leading stockholder in the Magnolia Oil & Gas Company, which controls one of the principal industries of that section of the country. Another member of the Bowman family is a prominent attorney of Canton, Ohio, and is now mayor of that city. Dr. Richards and his family have always been staunch Republicans, unswerving in their advocacy of the party. They have always been earnest adherents of
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Christian principles and belong to that class of representative Americans who labor for the advancement of County, State and Nation along the lines of greatest good.
Pages 266-267, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Allen and Woodson Counties, Kansas: embellished with portraits of well known people of these counties, with biographies of our representative citizens, cuts of public buildings and a map of each county / Edited and Compiled by L. Wallace Duncan and Chas. F. Scott. Iola Registers, Printers and Binders, Iola, Kan.: 1901; 894 p., [36] leaves of plates: ill., ports.; includes index.
