DR. A. P. MACOMBER, ATLANTIC.

Tracing his ancestry on his father's side back to the early Colonial days of New England, when the American progenitor of the family located in that then inhospitable wild, and on his mother's beyond even the boundaries of this country to a brother of Oliver Cromwell, and following his lines down through a long succession of men distinguished in the various walks of life, Dr. A. P. Macomber of Atlantic, one of the oldest physicians in the county in continuous practice, has had many inspiring examples and exciting incidents in his family history for his stimulus, his guidance and his emulation; and when the story of his life is, as here, briefly reviewed, although his course has not lain along the points and pinnacles of great affairs, as did that of many a one of his forebears, it is seen that he has faithfully lived up to his teachings and vindicated his inheritance in his devotion and fidelity to duty and his unselfish and high-minded consideration for his fellow men. He is a native of Franklin county, Mass., born in May, 1831, and the son of Ebenezer and Sarah A. (Jewell) macomber, also natives of that section of country, the father having been born at Taunton, Mass., on May 12, 1785, and the mother at Woodstock, Conn., on May 22, 1787.

The father was a skillful and accomplished stonecutter, and did some of the finest work of his day and locality in that line, especially in the decoration of public buildings. He also operated a farm, and passed his life in his native State, dying at Northhampton in 1849. The mother lived until 1874, when she passed away at the age of eighty-seven. Her grandparents, like herself, were natives of Woodstock, Conn., and belonged to one of the oldest families there, having been among the earliest emigrants from England to make their home in that part of the New World. The father's family was of Scotch origin. His father, George S. Macomber, was a life-long resident and farmer in Massachusetts, and died there at the age of seventy. His wife, whose maiden name was Susan Paul, lived to the age of ninety-three.

The Doctor is the last survivor of nine children, only one of whom died in infancy. Two became residents of this State, but all save himself have paid the last debt to nature and have been laid to rest. He had but one sister. He was educated at Uxbridge Academy, in his native State, and studied medicine under the tuition of Dr. J. N. Bates, of Barre. He then matriculated at the New York University Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1853. Beginning his practice in Winchester, N. H., he remained there eight years, then moved to a suburb of Boston, where he lived and labored five years, after which he passed eleven years in active practice in New Jersey. Since 1879 he has lived in Atlantic, this county, and until recently gave his profession his undivided attention.

In 1874 Dr. Macomber was married to Mrs. Fidelia (Gray) Fuller, a widow who was accidentally killed in Atlantic in 1887, and was united in 1888 to Mrs. C. J. Barnes, the widow of the late Dr. Barnes of Aurora, Ohio. They have had no children of their own, but have exercised parental care over an adopted daughter, who is now Edith, the wife of C. D. Brown, of Atlantic.

While living in New Jersey the Doctor was president of the State Homeopathic Medical Society of that State, and he has occupied the same position in Iowa. He is also a member of the American Institute of Homeopathy. Long years he has been active and influential among the Presbyterians of this section as a member of his congregation, and a forceful factor in the organized sessions of the church. His fraternal relations are with the Odd Fellows. Now in the evening of his life, after having borne faithfully the heat and burden of the day, he is enjoying a well-earned rest, amid the universal esteem and veneration of the people who have had the benefit of his continued and cheerul service.

From "Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pp. 402-403.