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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Oscar C. Lohr, M.D.

Among the medical practitioners of Greene county is numbered Dr. Oscar C. Lohr, now located in Churdan. He was born in Lohrville, this state - a place named in honor of the family - and he is a representative of one of the prominent families of western Iowa. His father, Jacob Lohr, a native of Pennsylvania, came west to Calhoun county, Iowa, in the year 1871 and settled in Union township. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, where the town of Lohrville now stands, and as he found opportunity for judicious investment he kept adding to his property until he was the owner of eight hundred acres in that district. In June, 1881, he gave the Western Town Lot Company a half interest in eighty acres of land for a town site and the new village was named Lohrville in his honor. He assisted in its organization, becoming one of its active founders, and as the years passed by he contributed extensively to its growth and improvement. He was well known as a dealer in live-stock, carrying on a large business in that direction, and whatever he undertook seemed to prove profitable, owing, however, not to any fortunate combination of circumstances but to his strong purpose, indefatigable energy and capable management. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, of which he was a stalwart supporter. At the time of the Civil war he espoused the Union cause and went to the front in command of a Pennsylvania regiment, with the rank of colonel. At all times he was loyal to the stars and stripes and his own valor and bravery often inspired his men to deeds of courage. He married Miss Mary E. Bollinger, a native of Maryland, and they became the parents of eight children, seven of whom are yet living. The death of the father occurred in 1883, when he was yet in the prime of life, being but forty-one years of age. His widow survived him for more than two decades and died in April, 1904.

Dr. Lohr of this review spent his boyhood days in his native village and began his education in the Lohrville schools. He afterward attended the college at Des Moines, where he acquired his more specifically literary education, and then, determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he entered the Barnes Medical College, at St. Louis, Missouri, from which he was graduated in the class of 1896. Locating for practice in Germania, Iowa, he there opened an oflice, which he conducted for one and a half years, and on the expiration of that period he came to Churdan, where he resumed practice. He has built up a large business since that time and has further qualified himself for his work by post-graduate study in Chicago. He has always been a student of the profession and has continually added to his ability and proficiency by his comprehensive reading and investigation. Anything which tends to bring to man a knowledge of the complex mystery which we call life is of interest to him. In the diagnosis of a case he is very careful and painstaking and seldom if ever at fault in predicting the outcome of disease. His patrons, with reason, have great confidence in his skill, while his fellow practitioners in the county acknowledge his worth and professional potency.

Dr. Lohr was married in 1897, in Lohrville, to Miss Elizabeth Baker, of Calhoun county, Iowa, and they have two children: Mary, five years of age; and Philip, now in his first year. Dr. Lohr is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Royal Arch chapter at Jefferson, and in his life he finds opportunity to exemplify the spirit of the craft, which is based upon mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness. The family has long been known in this part of the state and Dr. Lohr’s career adds luster to an untarnished family name.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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