John L. B. Eager

JOHN L. B. EAGER, M. D. - The state of Kansas with its thriving industrial activities and rapid development has attracted within its confines men of marked ability and high character in the various professional lines, and in this way progress has been conserved and social stability fostered. He whose name initiates this review has gained recognition as one of the able and successful physicians of the state, and by his labors, his high professional attainments and his sterling qualities has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public.

Dr. John L. B. Eager was born in New York city, on the 17th of March, 1860, and is a son of Peter and Pheobe Ann (Wilkin) Eager. The father was born in New York, in 1835, and his death occurred in Kansas City, Kansas, on the 31st of March, 1887. He came to this city in 1881 and here practiced medicine until his demise. He was a valiant and faithful soldier in the Civil war, having been enlisted as a private in the Seventh New York Infantry. In politics he endorsed the cause of the Republican party and his religious faith was in harmony with the tenets of the Congregational church. In the time honored Masonic order he had passed through the circle of the York Rite and was a prominent Knight Templar. Mrs. Eager was born in Orange county, New York, in which state was solemnized her marriage about the year 1857. She accompanied her honored husband to Kansas in 1881, and is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Mary E. Diash, of this city. The other children born to Dr. and Mrs. Eager are: John L. B., the immediate subject of this review; Mrs. C. C. Baker, of Lathrop, Missouri, whose husband is ex-state printer of Kansas; and Nellie and Marguerite both of whom died in infancy.

Dr. John L. B. Eager was reared to adult age in the city of his birth, to whose excellent public schools he is indebted for his preliminary educational training. In New York city he attended a school of pharmacy and he came to Kansas City, Kansas, in 1880, in which year he opened a drug store for Dr. Wood. This concern he conducted with increasing success for one year, when he purchased the establishment. While in the drug store he pursued a course of study in the Kansas City Medical College, that institution being now a portion of the University of Kansas, and he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine as a member of the class of 1884. Immediately after graduation he entered upon the practice of his profession in this city, where he has built up a large and representative patronage and where he has gained distinctive prestige as one of the leading practitioners in the state. In his political convictions Dr. Eager is a stalwart supporter of the Republican party and in connection with public affairs he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general good of the city and state at large. He was incumbent of the office of police surgeon for some four years and for two years was city physician. He is affiliated with the Masonic order, in which he is past eminent commander in Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 10, Knights Templars. He is also a valued and appreciative member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancellor commander; and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he is past exalted ruler. He and his wife are devout communicants of the Episcopal church and they are prominent and popular factors in connection with the best social activities in Kansas City.

In the year 1884 Dr. Eager was united in marriage to Miss Julia M. Griswold, a daughter of Holland and Lorinda (Bassett) Griswold, of Kansas City, Kansas. To this union has been born one child, Lucille, now the wife of Dr. J. W. May, a specialist in the diseases of the eye and ear in Kansas City, Kansas.