DR. A.G. DICKSON ANSWERED SUMMONS TO DEATH
PARAGOULD DAILY PRESS
THURSDAY , JANUARY 28 , 1909
TRANSCRIBED BY : TINA EASLEY
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/
THE PARAGOULD SANITARIUM FOUNDED BY DR. A.G. DICKSON
PHOTO FROM PARAGOULD DAILY PRESS PRINTED WITH STORY BELOW
THURSDAY , JANUARY 28 , 1909
A BRILLIANT CAREER CUT SHORT BEFORE ITS STAR HAD REACHED THE ZENITH OF ITS EARTHLY GLORY
AN IRREPARABLE LOSS TO PARAGOULD
A GREAT SURGEON LAYS DOWN LIFE'S ARMOR AND SLEEPS THE ETERNAL SLEEP.
HE DID NOT FEAR DEATH
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CAREER OF A NATIVE SON WHO WAS FAST WRITING HIS NAME ON THE SCROLL OF FAME - UNIVERSAL SORROW EXPRESSED FOR THE DEATH OF PARAGOULD'S FOREMOST CITIZEN.
PARAGOULD MOURNS !
DR. A.G. DICKSON IS DEAD !
THE WARM HAND WE ALL LOVED TO CLASP , THE GENIAL SMILE THAT GREETED US WHEREVER WE MET HIM , THE CHEERING WORDS THAT GAVE COURAGE TO THE DOWN HEARTED AND HOPE TO THE AFFLICTED ARE HUSHED IN THE SILENCE OF THE TOMB.
A GREAT MAN HAS FALLEN ! A FRIEND TO HUMANITY HAS BEEN CALLED FROM OUR MIDST AND THE PALL OF DARKNESS HANGS OVER OUR LITTLE CITY.
HE WAS A KING AMONG MEN , NOT BECAUSE HE HAD GREAT AUTHORITY AND WIELDED THE SCEPTER OF STATE OVER A COMMUNITY OF SUBJECTS , BUT BECAUSE HE WAS A GOOD SAMARITAN DOING DEEDS OF KINDNESS . RELIEVING SUFFERING , COOLING THE FEVERED BROW AND CARRYING GOOD CHEER INTO THE HOMES OF THE HUMBLE. HE LIVED FOR OTHERS , NOT FOR HIMSELF , HE DIED A MARTYR TO THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING HUMANITY.
HIS PHILANTHROPY WAS SO GREAT THAT HIS CHIEF PLEASURE WAS IN DOING FOR OTHERS WHAT THEY COULD NOT DO FOR THEMSELVES , AND HE WAS NEVER HAPPIER THAN WHEN ALLEVIATING THE SUFFERING OF HIS FELLOW - CREATURES .
HUMANITARIANISM PUISATED IN HIS EVERY HEART-THROB AND HUMANITY GAVE BACK TO HIM THE REWARD OF GRATITUDE. HIS KINGDOM WAS THE HEARTS OF HIS FRIENDS AND HIS FRIENDS WERE THE WHOLE PEOPLE WHO KNEW HIM , WHETHER HIGH OR LOW , RICH OR POOR.
FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS HE WAS AN INTENSE SUFFERER. HE MADE A BRAVE FIGHT FOR LIFE , BUT HIS CONSTITUTION WAS TOO FRAIL TO WITHSTAND THE RAVAGES OF THE DISEASE THAT SEIZED UPON HIS VITALS . FOR MORE THAN A WEEK HE WAS KEPT ALIVE ON STIMULANTS. PNEUMONIA INVADED BOTH LUNGS AND ALL THAT EMINENT SPECIALISTS COULD DO AIDED BY LOCAL MEDICAL TALENT WAS INADEQUATE TO THE MASTERY OF THE DISEASE AND AFTER MANY DAYS OF PATIENT SUFFERING HE PASSED QUIETLY AWAY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON AT 5 O'CLOCK.
DR. A.G. DICKSON WAS BORN IN CRAIGHEAD COUNTY NEAR OLD GREENSBORO , SOME TWELVE MILES SOUTH OF PARAGOULD , ON JULY 26 , 1867 . DURING HIS BOYHOOD HE LIVED WITH HIS PARENTS ON THE FARM AND WORKED AS OTHER BOYS OF THE COMMUNITY DID DURING THE CROP SEASONS AND ATTENDED THE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS DURING THE WINTER , WHICH HAS GROWN TO BE OF GREAT VALUE.
THE ELDER DICKSON SHARED WITH THE SON THE AMBITION THAT THE SON SHOULD BECOME A DOCTOR AND GAVE HIM ALL THE ADVANTAGES THAT HIS LIMITED MEANS WOULD LIMIT OF. GRAYHAM WAS SENT TO THE NORMAL SCHOOL AT LEBANON, OHIO , WHERE HE FINISHED HIS LITERARY EDUCATION. TAKING THE DEGREE OF B.S. LATERLY IN 1890 HE ENTERED FOR THREE YEARS THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY WHERE HE GRADUATED IN MEDICINE. RETURNING TO PARAGOULD WITH LITTLE ELSE THAN HIS DIPLOMA AND AN AMBITION TO BE MORE THAN AN ORDINARY SUCCESS , HE BEGAN THE PRACTICE AMONG HIS HOME PEOPLE AND A FEW MILES OF WHERE HE WAS BORN. THE REST IS EASILY TOLD . WITH ONLY ABOUT FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE PRACTICE HE HAD TAKEN FRONT RANK AMONG THE PHYSICIANS OF NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND AMONG THE SURGEONS OF THE SOUTH.
HE HAS AT INTERVALS QUIT HIS PRACTICE LONG ENOUGH TO TAKE POST GRADUATE COURSES AT THE LEADING MEDICAL SCHOOLS AND THE LEADING HOSPITALS OF THE WORLD. HE HAS TAKEN SUCH COURSES IN NEW ORLEANS , CHICAGO , NEW YORK , PHILADELPHIA AND IN LONDON, ENGLAND.
ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE WAS STRICKEN HE TOLD THE WRITER THAT HE WAS GOING TO SPEND SIX MONTHS ABROAD THIS YEAR STUDYING HOSPITAL WORK , THAT HE EXPECTED TO SPEND SEVERAL MONTHS IN VIENNA , THE GREATEST HOSPITAL CITY IN THE WORLD AND WHERE THE WORLD'S GREATEST SURGEONS ARE TO BE FOUND . THERE ISN'T AN IMPORTANT HOSPITAL OF NATIONAL RENOWN IN THE UNITED STATES THAT HE HAS NOT VISITED AND HE HAS VISITED MANY IN EUROPE , ALWAYS WITH A VIEW TO ENLARGING HIS OWN USEFULNESS AS A HOSPITAL SURGEON , FOR THAT WAS THE DREAM OF HIS LIFE. HE LOVED MEDICINE BUT WORSHIPED SURGERY . WITH HIS SURGERY WAS AN INFATUATION. HE HAD THE NATURAL GENIUS AND BY PERSISTENT EFFORT AND HARD STUDY MASTERED THE SCIENCE . THE ONE GREAT PURPOSE OF HIS LIFE WAS TO BE AT THE HEAD OF A GREAT SANITARIUM AND HE LIVED TO ACHIEVE THE AMBITION OF HIS LIFE , BUT DIED WHILE YET HIS STAR HAD NOT ATTAINED ITS ZENITH.
HE PROJECTED AND BUILT THE PARAGOULD SANITARIUM WITH INADEQUATE FUNDS AND AGAINST THE ADVICE OF HIS FRIENDS WHO DID NOT "BELIEVE IT WOULD PAY " WITH HIM , HOWEVER , IT WAS NOT SO MUCH A QUESTION OF " WILL IT PAY " AS " WILL IT DO GOOD FOR SUFFERING HUMANITY ? " IN THIS HIS HOPE HAS BEEN REALIZED FOR HUNDREDS OF PATIENTS HAVE BEEN IN THE SANITARIUM SINCE IT WAS OPENED TO THE PUBLIC TWO YEARS AGO AND FINANCIALLY IT HAS BEEN A SUCCESS. THIS MAGNIFICENT AND BEAUTIFUL BUILDING COST , WITH ITS EQUIPMENT APPROXIMATELY $30,000 AND IS SAID TO BE ONE OF THE FINEST SANITARIUMS IN THE SOUTH.
IN ITS EVERY DETAIL IT IS THE IDEAL OF ITS FOUNDER , THE REALIZATION OF HIS DREAMS BEFORE A BRICK WAS EVER LAID. HE HAD VISITED HUNDREDS OF SIMILIAR INSTITUTIONS , HAD STUDIED THEIR ARCHITECTURE AND DETERMINED TO GIVE PARAGOULD ONE THAT WAS AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONVENTIENCE AND COMFORT , IF NOT IN SIZE , OVER OTHER SUCH INSTITUTIONS OF THE COUNTRY , IT WAS HIS AMBITION , HAD HE LIVED TO BE RECOGNIZED AT THE AGE OF 45 AS THE GREATEST OPERATING SURGEON IN ARKANSAS AND OUR FIFTY STATES THAN IT WAS NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT THE AMBITIONS OF HIS PROFESSIONAL LIFE. HE HAD NO DESIRE TO ACCUMULATE A FORTUNE ANY FURTHER THAN IT WOULD ENABLE HIM TO DO THE WORLD AND SUFFERING HUMANITY GOOD.
ABOUT FIVE YEARS AGO THE DECEASED FORMED A PARTNERSHIP WITH DR. HENRY DICKSON , OF INDEPENDECE COUNTY , WHO CAME HERE FOR THE PURPOSE OF PERFECTING THE PARTNERSHIP. THE TWO WERE COLLEGE CHUMS. THEY GRADUATED TOGETHER AT NASHVILLE , AND FOR THE FULL THREE YEARS TERM SLEPT AND ATE TOGETHER. LATTERLY THEY TOOK POST GRADUATE WORK TOGETHER AND WERE THE WARMEST OF FRIENDS. NO MAN HAS BEEN SO INTIMATELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE DECEASED AS THE SURVIVING PARTNER AND WHEN HE WAS ASKED WHAT HE CONSIDERED TO BE THE STRONGEST CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DECEASED HE SAID HIS " INATE HONESTY FIRST AND HIS KINDNESS OF HEART SECOND ." WHAT GREATER TRIBUTE COULD BE PAID TO ANY MAN THAN TO SAY THAT THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC OF HIS LIFE WAS HIS HONESTY ?
THROUGH THE LONG AND WEARY DAYS OF HIS FATAL SICKNESS , DR. HENRY DICKSON HAS SAT AT THE BEDSIDE OF HIS SICK PARTNER DOING ALL HE COULD TO RELIEVE HIM . THE NIGHT PREVIOUS TO THE DEATH , HE SAT UP ALL NIGHT WATCHING EVERY MOVEMENT AND ADMINISTERING RESTORATIVES , GUARDING WITH TENDER VIGIL THE EBBING AWAY OF THE LIFE THAT WAS SUCH A JOY TO HIM . THE TWO MEN LOVED EACH OTHER LIKE BROTHERS AND THEIR BUSINESS AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP FOR YEARS HAS BEEN WITHOUT AN UNPLEASANT INCIDENT TO MAR THE HARMONY THAT EXISTED.
IN HIS SOCIAL LIFE THE DECEASED WAS THE MOST CHARMING OF MEN. HE WAS VIVACIOUS AND IN HIS DEMEANOR WAS LIKE A RAY OF SUNSHINE. HIS FRIENDS LOVED HIM FOR WHAT HE WAS IN HIS EVERY DAY WALK REGARDLESS OF WHAT HE ACHIEVED PROFESSIONALLY. HE WAS A MEMBER OF MANY FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS AND IT WAS THE TRUE FRATERNAL SPIRIT IN HIM MADE HIM SUCH. HE LOVED TO MINGLE WITH THE PEOPLE AND THE LODGE ROOM AFFORDED HIM THE MEANS OF GETTING CLOSE TO THEM AND HENCE HE HELD MEMBERSHIP IN THE MASONS, THE ODD FELLOWS , THE A.O.U.W. THE MACCABEES , THE ELKS , WOODMEN OF THE WORLD , THE D. OF H. AND PERHAPS OTHER FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS . HE WAS FOR THREE TERMS GRAND MEDICAL EXAMINER OF A.O.U.W. GRAND LODGE AND HELD EXALTED STATIONS IN OTHER LODGES. HE WAS A ROYAL ARCH MASON AND A TRUE ONE. HE WAS OFTEN CHOSEN BY SOME ONE OF THE LODGES AS SPEAKER ON PUBLIC OCCASIONS AND NEVER FAILED TO ACQUIT HIMSELF WITH DISTINCTION. HE WAS AN ORATOR OF NO MEAN ABILITY AND WAS A FAVORITE SPEAKER WITH THE LODGES.
IN HIS RELIGIOUS LIFE DR. DICKSON WAS A MEMBER OF THE M.E. CHURCH SOUTH . HE WAS ACTIVE IN CHURCH WORK, BUT LIBERAL IN HIS VIEWS . HE WAS A MAN OF PREMINENTLY GOOD MORALS . DURING HIS SCHOOL DAYS IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGES HIS LIFE WAS EXEMPLARY . MEDICAL STUDENTS BEAR A REPUTATION IN THE CITIES OF BEING TOUGH . AS A RULE THAT DR. DICKSON , DURING HIS COLLEGE CAREER DID NOT SUSTAIN THAT REPUTATION.
IF HE EVER DID AN IMMORAL ACT WHILE WE WERE IN COLLEGE TOGETHER SAID DR. HENRY DICKSON , I NEVER KNEW IT AND I WAS WITH HIM CONSTANTLY. THE DECEASED KNEW HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND SAID HE WAS READY. WHEN TOLD BY HIS PARTNER A FEW HOURS BEFORE DEATH CAME . " GRAYHAM , YOU ARE GOING TO DIE , THE REPLY WAS " ALL RIGHT ." HE HAD NO FEAR OF DEATH. IN A CONVERSATION SOME TIME AGO ON THE QUESTION OF SPIRITUALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE SPIRIT WORLD , HE SAID , " I WISH IT WERE TRUE THAT WE COULD COMMUNE WITH THE DEPARTED ; THEN THERE WOULD BE NO QUESTION BY ANYBODY ABOUT THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL . "
TO THE HEART - BROKEN WIFE , THE DEVOTED MOTHER , MRS. M.E. DICKSON , TO THE LOVING SISTERS , MRS. LETHA DILLMAN AND MRS. J.L. THOMPSON , THE AFFECTIONATE AUNT , MRS. H.S. TRICE , AND TO MANY KINDRED AND FRIENDS WHO MOURN THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF THIS GREAT AND GOOD MAN , THE SOLIPHONE JOINS THE ENTIRE POPULACE OF PARAGOULD IN EXPRESSIONS OF SINCERE SYMPATHY.
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THE FUNERAL
THE FUNERAL OF DR. A.G. DICKSON WILL OCCUR FROM THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH , WHERE HE HELD HIS MEMBERSHIP , AT 2. 0'CLOCK TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND WILL BE CONDUCTED BY REVS. M.M. SMITH , A.C. GRIFFIN AND F.A. JEFFETT THE LATTER OF MARIANNA AND A FORMER PASTOR OF THE DECEASED TO WHOM HE WAS MUCH DEVOTED . REV. Z.T. BENNETT , ALSO A FORMER PASTOR OF THE DECEASED , IS EXPECTED TO BE PRESENT . FOLLOWING THE SERVICES AT THE CHURCH INTERMENT WILL BE HAD AT LINWOOD CEMETERY. THE COMPLETE DETAILS OF THE FUNERAL HAVE NOT BEEN ARRANGED , BUT IT IS SUPPOSED THAT THE VARIOUS FRATERNAL ORDERS OF WHICH THE DECEASED WAS A MEMBER , WILL PARTICIPATE.
A NUMBER OF RELATIVES HAVE ALREADY ARRIVED AMONG THEM TWO UNCLES , "BUTCH " AND WILEY DICKSON , OF NEAR JONESBORO , ALSO JOHN AND DICK GAMBLE , UNCLES , OF JONESBORO , ALSO MRS. TOL TATUM AND J.B. GREGG , OF JONESBORO . A NUMBER OF PHYSICIANS OF JONESBORO HAVE SIGNIFIED THEIR IN INTENTION TO ATTEND THE FUNERAL AS WELL AS PHYSICIANS FROM OTHER TOWNS.
THE BEREAVED WIFE IS IN RECEIPT OF MANY TELEGRAMS OF CONDOLENCE FROM MEN OF PROMINENCE IN DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF THE COUNTRY , ONE FROM LITTLE ROCK SIGNED R.W. HOLLAND , GRAND MASTER , AND H.L. CROSS GRAND RECORDER OF THE A.O.U.W. SAYS , " YOU HAVE OUR HEARTFELT SYMPATHY IN YOUR SAD AFFLICTION . IN THE DEATH OF DR. DICKSON . WE SUFFER WITH YOU. " S.S. FAULKNER , FORMER GRAND TREASURE OF THE A.O.U.W. OF HELENA , ALSO SEND HIS CONDOLENCE AND SAYS HE WILL BE HERE TO ATTEND THE FUNERAL . RELATIVES OF MRS. DICKSON FROM NASHVILLE , TENN. ARE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE TONIGHT.
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NOTICE
ALL SOVEREIGNS OF PARAGOULD LODGE NO. 32 , A.O.U.W. ARE REQUESTED TO BE AT THE HALL TOMORROW AT 1 O'CLOCK TO ATTEND IN A BODY THE FUNERAL OF OUR DECEASED BROTHER , A.G. DICKSON .
J.T. HESTER , CLERK
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NOTICE
ALL MEMBERS OF PARAGOULD LODGE NO. 13 , I.O.O.F. ARE REQUESTED TO ASSEMBLE TOMORROW AFTERNOON AT 1 O'CLOCK FOR THE PURPOSE OF ATTENDING IN A BODY THE FUNERAL OF BRO. A.G. DICKSON.
J.S. PARKER , SECY . ACTING
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