Dr. Hugh
Livingston, a physician and surgeon of Hopkinton, has resided in Delaware county
for many years and although he is quiet and unassuming in manner his genuine
worth has been demonstrated many times and he is highly respected and esteemed
by his fellow citizens. He has a representative practice which yields him a good
annual income and he holds the respect and confidence of the general public and
the profession alike.
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Dr. Livingston was born October 5, 1846, on the
Livingston homestead, located a mile and a half from
Hopkinton, a son of Hugh and Isabelle Livingston. As a
young man the father went with a colony to the Selkirk
settlement in Canada and there in 1830 married Miss
Isabelle Rose, a daughter of Alexander and Lily
(Campbell) Rose. To Mr. and Mrs. Livingston were born
nine children, six daughters and three sons, namely,
Anna, Duncan, Lily, Isabelle, Mary, Nathaniel, Hugh,
Margaret and Rachel. The Doctor is the only one now
living. The three oldest, Anna, Duncan and Lily, were
born in the Selkirk settlement, Isabelle in Dubuque,
Iowa, and the others on the family homestead in this
county. Duncan Livingston became second lieutenant in
Company K, Twenty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and did
gallant service throughout the Civil war.
When Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Livingston, Sr., came to Iowa
from Canada in 1835 the party with which they were
traveling sought shelter at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
Their goods were hauled to that place on ox carts with
wooden wheels made from round blocks of oak without any
iron mounting. At Fort Snelling Hugh Livingston, who was
a carpenter by trade, superintended the building of
boats in which the women and children rowed down the
Mississippi, the men following on land with the carts
And driving the stock. In this manner the party
succeeded in reaching Dubuque, which at that time was
only a trading post, but they remained there for some
time, in the |
meantime
prospecting the land farther
west. They finally
concluded to settle near the Maquoketa river and the Livingston family came to
this county in 1837, being among the earliest pioneers, as they took up the
second claim in the county.
Dr. Livingston worked upon his father's farm as a
boy and when not so employed attended the district schools. He supplemented the
education thus acquired by three years' work in Lenox College. When he became of
age he went west, crossing the plains to the mountains of Colorado, and was for
a year and a half employed in the quartermaster's department at Fort Sedgewick,
that state, and for a similar period of time was foreman of a construction gang
working on the Union Pacific Railway, which was then being built. He
subsequently returned to this county and assisted his mother in the management
of the homestead for a few years, after which, in 1874, he came to Hopkinton,
and purchased a drug store. He continued to conduct this until 1887 and at the
same time studied medicine privately. As a competitor had opened another drug
store in the town he closed his place of business, went to Chicago and
matriculated at Rush Medical College. He was graduated from that institution in
1890 and in addition to his degree received special diplomas in diseases of the
eye and ear and clinical gynecology as he had taken extra courses in those
subjects. Thus prepared for the practice of the profession which had always most
attracted him, he returned to Hopkinton and established himself as a physician
and surgeon. He also reopened his drug store and is still conducting that as
well as attending to his practice. He has made a thorough study of the science
of medicine and keeps abreast of the latest developments in that field as he
desires to give his patients the benefit of any new discoveries that aid in the
battle against disease. He is very careful in making a diagnosis to take into
consideration all symptoms as well as the medical history of the patient and
watches carefully all developments of the case and is, therefore, usually able
to effect a cure, or, if that is impossible, to hold the disease in check.
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Livingston Home |
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On the 10th of December, 1901, at New Hartford, Iowa, Dr. Livingston was married
to Miss Hattie Steward, a daughter of James C. and Mary C. (Stroud) Steward. She
was born November 14, 1877, at the farm home near Strawberry Point, Iowa. Her
father's people were principally of Scotch and Welsh blood and her mother's
grandparents came from England. Her father was born at Marietta, Ohio, and her
mother at Erie. Pennsylvania, but were both reared in Wisconsin. There they met
and married and five of their children were born there. In 1875 they came from
Sauk county, Wisconsin, to Strawberry Point, Clayton county, Iowa. Eight
children were born to them as follows: Orin, who died in 1887 at the age of
twenty eight years; Estha, who died in 1876 at the age of sixteen; George, who
owns and operates a farm within sight of the old homestead near Strawberry
Point; Flora, the wife of Fred Tracy, who owns land near the Steward homestead;
Mary, the wife of William Tracy, who is a brother of the Mr. Tracy previously
mentioned and resides upon a farm located east of Strawberry Point; Lawrence,
who is engaged in farming near Belvidere, Illinois; Mrs. Livingston; and Myrtle,
who died in 1883 at the age of three months. In 1888, the father's health
failing, the family moved to Strawberry Point and Mr. Steward passed away there
March 1, 1908, at the age of seventy years. The mother was bright and active for
her years and met death by accident September 27, 1912, when she was just a few
months less than seventy-three years of age.
Mrs. Hattie (Steward) Livingston is a graduate
from the Strawberry Point high school. She has taken some college work and is a
graduate nurse, holding a diploma as a registered nurse from the Iowa state
board. After leaving high school she taught school near Strawberry Point for a
year and followed nursing for some time before her marriage. She has become the
mother of two daughters: Huberta Mary, born August 1, 1905; and Harriet Mabel,
born October 25, 1910. Mrs. Livingston has considerable artistic talent and has
painted quite a few pictures of genuine merit. She is now doing some art work at
Lenox College and will receive a diploma from that department next June.
The Doctor and Mrs. Livingston are supporters of the
Presbyterian church and the former served as treasurer of the local church for
many years. For a number of years he has been a member of the board of directors
of Lenox College and has at all times displayed a lively interest in the cause
of education. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons, being a member of Burns
Lodge at Monticello. He holds membership in the county and state medical
societies, the Austin Flint Medical Society and the American Medical Association
and in this way keeps in touch with the work done by his colleagues and is also
enabled to give them the benefit of his experience. Mrs. Livingston is a member
of the Order of the Eastern Star and is worthy matron of Sunbeam Chapter, of
Hopkinton. She is president of the Clio Club, Hopkinton's Literary Society, and
an active worker in the various women's organizations.
The Doctor owns the family homestead and also
some adjoining land, his holdings aggregating three hundred and forty-two acres
of land, besides his palatial twenty room residence, which is located in the
midst of a park on a hill overlooking the town of Hopkinton and the surrounding
country. His life has been spent in useful but unostentatious activity, and he
has the satisfaction of knowing that he has not only won success for himself but
has worthily performed services that are honorable and important and that the
community is the gainer for his life in its midst. |