John Thomas Axtell MD (1856 - 1937)

Born 11 Aug 1856 in Roseville, Warren, Illinois, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Lucena (Chase) Axtell MD — married 18 May 1882 in Newton, Harvey, Kansas, USA

Descendants

Died 20 Feb 1937 at age 80 in Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Biography

John Thomas Axtell, M. D., a son of John Milton Axtell and Lydia Long, was born August 11, 1856 in Roseville, Warren, Illinois^[1] and died February 20, 1937 while on a trip to California.^{[2] [3]}

John Thomas Axtell spent most of his life in Kansas. His father, John Milton Axtell, was born in Mercer County in Western Pennsylvania, February 27, 1828. When he was ten years of age, his parents moved to Roseville, Illinois, where he grew up, married and took up farming. In 1865 he joined the pioneers of Kansas, locating at Garnett in Anderson County. He followed farming and stock raising and was prominent in his work. Thus it was that John Thomas Axtell grew up in the atmosphere of a farm and the livestock business.

John Thomas Axtell had some education in Illinois and completed his public school work in Garnett, Kansas, where he finished the high school course in 1874. His early experiences and the source of revenue largely for his medical education came from school teaching. He taught school four years in Anderson County, and in 1878 removed to Newton, where, while studying medicine, he served two years as principal of one of the city schools. For two years he attended the medical department of the University of Michigan, and in January, 1882, passed the State Board of Medical Examiners, and spent one year in practice at Hunnewell, Kansas. He then continued his work in the Bellevue Hospital Medical College at New York City, from which he obtained the degree Doctor of Medicine in 1883.

Doctor Axtell continuously sought the benefits and advantages furnished not only by his own practice and experience but also by extensive association with the leaders of his profession and attendance at the great clinics of this country and abroad. He had at several times taken post-graduate work in the Post-Graduate School of New York City, holding a diploma from that institution, also in the University Medical College and the Kansas City Medical College of Kansas City, and for a number of years was professor of Orthopedic Surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, now the medical department of the University of Kansas at Kansas City. While in that position he held clinics in Kansas City hospitals for eight years. He had attended clinics in practically every large city of the United States, and also in France, England, Germany and Austria. In 1914 Doctor Axtell went abroad and spent some time in the great hospital centers of Vienna and Berlin, and returned to England just before the outbreak of the war. He was obliged to remain in England some time on account of hostilities, and during this delay he attended clinics in the cities of London, Edinburgh and Liverpool.

It was in 1883 that Doctor Axtell established himself in practice at Newton. It was partly to accommodate his own large private practice and also to furnish much needed facilities for surgery in this section of Kansas that he established the Axtell Hospital in 1886. The hospital was opened for the reception of patients on February 1, 1887.

Doctor Axtell was a member of the American Medical Association, the Kansas State and Harvey County Medical societies, was president of the State Society and of various district medical societies. He was also a member of the State Board of Health of Kansas and a physician member of the Military Exemption Board in the Second District of Kansas.

Doctor Axtell was also involved in farming and stock raising and owned several hundred acres of farm land around Newton and 480 acres in Colorado under the Fort Lyon ditch. On his Kansas ranch he made successful efforts as a pioneer in the growing of alfalfa and also in the establishment of alfalfa mills. He also raised Holstein cattle there. On his Colorado ranch he raised Herefords. He also had raised horses and was at one point a breeder and trainer of trotting stock.

He was a director of the Kansas State Bank of Newton and was a large property owner in that city. Doctor He owned five business buildings and about thirty dwelling houses throughout the city, in addition to his fire-proof brick residence adjoining the hospital.

He was a republican in politics. Was a member of the Newton Lodge No. 142, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Wichita Consistory No. 2 of the Scottish Rite and Isis Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wichita and also belonged to Newton Lodge No. 100, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

On May 18, 1882, at Newton, Doctor Axtell was married to Miss Lucena Chase, a daughter of Ichabod and Margaret (Gillam) Chase. They had four children: Lillian who married Dr. John L. Grove; Marguerite who married Dr. H. M. Glover; Mildred; and Marion.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]}

Sources

1. ↑ See Passport Application Image.
2. ↑ Headstone
3. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 November 2019), memorial page for Dr John Thomas Axtell (11 Aug 1856–20 Feb 1937), Find A Grave: Memorial #33589991, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Newton, Harvey County, Kansas, USA ; Maintained by Barb (contributor 46494205) .
4. ↑ A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans Volume 5
5. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, M593, 1,761 rolls.) Census Place: Jackson, Anderson, Kansas; Roll: M593_428; Page: 95A; Image: 193
6. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Tenth Census of the United States, 1880, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T9, 1,454 rolls.) Census Place: Newton, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: 382, Enumeration District: 232; Image: 0518.
7. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900, T623, 1854 rolls.) Census Place: Newton Ward 1, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: 482; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 0085
8. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1910, T624, 1,178 rolls.) Census Place: Newton Ward 1, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: T624_441; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0041
9. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1920, T625, 2076 rolls.) Census Place: Newton Ward 1, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: T625_534; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 54; Image: 309.
10. ↑ USA, Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930, T626, 2,667 rolls.) Census Place: Newton, Harvey, Kansas; Roll: 705; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0017; Image: 393.0