Clark W. Hoag

CLARK W. HOAG, M. D., who has the distinction of being the oldest physician in Weir City, and has long been one of the leading members of the profession in Cherokee County, was born in 1847 in Illinois, and is a son of Ashel W. and Celestine (Dye) Hoag.

The father of Dr. Hoag was born in 1816 in New York, and died in Cass County, Missouri, in 1900, aged 84 years. The mother was born in Illinois in 1815, and died in Missouri in 1891, aged 76 years. They had five children, the three survivors being Clark W., and two older brothers, viz: Wilber C., who still resides on the old homestead in Missouri, and has three children,—Laura, Arthur and Wilbur; and Oscar, living in the State of Washington, who married Laura Hoag and has three children.

Dr. Hoag's parents removed to Illinois in 1849, when Chicago had but a few log houses resting on her mud flats, and when business prospects were not encouraging enough to induce Mr. Hoag to remain any longer than was absolutely necessary. He pushed on into Iowa and settled in Allamakee County, where he secured a homestead grant and lived upon his land for 13 years. Thence he moved to Buchanan County, Iowa, where he lived until 1867, when he went to Cass County, Missouri, and there became a prominent farmer.

Dr. Hoag was reared in Iowa and obtained his literary education at Iowa City. In 1867 he came to Kansas, and bought and improved land in Miami County. This he subsequently sold, and then took a medical course in the Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1868. His parents had settled in Cass County, Missouri, and he entered into practice there and remained two years. His attention was then attracted to the lately opened mining districts in Cherokee County, Kansas, and in the spring of 1871 he decided to engage in practice at a place first named "Coal Field," and later changed to "Stillson",—a point located about a mile from Scammon. The Doctor was made postmaster at Coal Field and gradually became one of the leading spirits of this locality. His profession made him acquainted with almost every family, and his strong personality, sense, judgment and capacity, brought him naturally into close contact with the business affairs and social arrangements of the little community.

Dr. Hoag has been called the father of Scammon. He came here when but one coal shaft blackened the prairie, and bestowed upon the little settlement the name it bears to-day, as a prosperous little city of 2,000 inhabitants. He was not only instrumental in obtaining post office facilities here, but for years was a prime mover in all public spirited enterprises. In 1881 he removed from Scammon to Weir City, again being one of the early settlers, and has witnessed the city's growth from a few scattered homes to a population of 3,000. The wonderful changes taken place here, the great industries put in motion and the immense influx of capital, have all come since Dr. Hoag came to the little settlement to give his professional help to the workmen, who then labored under much more dangerous conditions than at present. He is city physician, and president of the Board of Health.

In December, 1866, Dr. Hoag married Agnes Beith, who is of Scotch ancestry, and they had two children: Evelyn, born at Coal Field, wife of Mr. J. C. Adams, of Weir City; and Arthur C., who was born in 1869, in Miami County, Kansas, and died at Weir City, December 21, 1893; he was a very promising young business man of this city. He married Maud Wagner, at Pittsburg, Kansas, and they had three children,—Harold, Hazel and Fred. The death of this son was a source of great sorrow to his parents, and occasioned deep regret in the community, by whom he was much esteemed.

At one time Dr. Hoag was one of the three physicians of Cherokee County, the others being Dr. Bailey of Cherokee and Dr. Barry of Weir City. The records of those early days contain matter for a thousand romances, all dealing with the sternest realities of life and death.

Politically, Dr. Hoag is and always has been a stanch supporter of the principles of the old Democratic party, but has desired no political preferment for himself. In the early days here he had to serve in many positions, and was the first justice of the peace at Scammon, but his professional dutes[sic] have more than filled the limit of his health and time. Fraternally, he is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias.

History of Cherokee County Kansas and its representative citizens, ed. & comp. by Nathaniel Thompson Allison, 1904, transcribed by Carolyn Ward, instructor from USD 508, Baxter Springs Middle School, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 5/5/97.