Dr. Nellie Slaght

 This alert, capable and energetic woman is a splendid example of what courage, coupled with ability, may accomplish.  Although a woman, she has entered a field of human effort commonly given over to men, and, while not sacrificing one jot of the feminine daintiness which is hers, she has been very successful in her chosen profession, that of a physician of the osteopath school. Nellie Slaght was born September 3, 1872, in Tiffin, Iowa, the daughter of Charles Parker and Philena (Higgins) Slaght.  Her mother was born July 29, 1840, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, and her father was a native of New Jersey, born in Morris county, that state, March 25, 1835.  He was the fifth child born in a family of six children to Jeremiah Slaght (born 1798, in New Jersey): Several years after his marriage, Jeremiah Slaght took his family and moved to the state of Ohio; here he followed agricultural pursuits for a number of years and in 1853 he removed to Iowa and settled on a farm near Iowa City. At this time Charles Parker, father of the subject, was a young man of eighteen years, and came with his father's family to Iowa. He learned the stonemason's trade in an early day and worked at this trade and also farming throughout his life.  He was a man of good parts and great public spirit.  He invented a hay rake and loader, known as the "Clean-sweep Hay-rake and Loader," now manufactured by the Sandwich Manufacturing Company of Illinois.  This invention has been exhibited at the world's fairs held in Chicago, Paris, Buffalo, etc., and is sold and shipped to Australia, South America, and, in fact, to all parts of the world.  He was also a soldier in the Civil war, serving with distinction throughout the struggle, being a member of the Twenty-seventh Iowa Regiment.  He was always prominent and active in politics, being identified with the interests of the Republican Party; was  an officer in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Tiffin for a great many years.

In 1881 he moved to Iowa City and here his death occurred in 1890, from injuries received from falling from a roof of a barn.  He was twice married, his first marriage occurring October 8, 1857, when he was united to Rachel A. Chamberlin.  To this union there were three children born, namely: Margaret, Mary and George, none of whom are now living, and only one of whom, Margaret, grew to maturity. She died at the age of thirty, unmarried, and his first wife died June 20, 1864, and on September 13, 1866, he was united in marriage to Philena Higgins, mother of the subject, as stated above. She was a daughter of Jesse and Sophronia (Van Wormer) Higgins.  To this second marriage were born three children, namely: Sophronia Celia, born September 3, 1867, died at the age of twenty-six; Agnes, born in August, 1869, died at the age of four; and Nellie, the subject of this review.  The mother died May 10, 1903. at Monroe, Iowa, where she was living with the subject, leaving her the only living member of her family.  Her father's people were all long-lived people.  The family is of German descent.  Two of her aunts, on the father's side, Lucinda Wolf Drake and Nancy Doty, are still living, aged respectively eighty-eight and eighty-two.   Mrs. Drake lives in Newton, Iowa, Mrs. Doty at Sparta, Ohio.

 Nellie Slaght graduated from the high school at Iowa City, after which she taught two terms of school in Johnson county, and one term in the schools of Washington county, this state.  She then took up the study of osteopathy, and entered the S. S. Still College of Osteopathy in Des Moines, Iowa, from which institution she was graduated in June 1901.  She then moved with her mother to Monroe, where she began the practice of osteopathy. About a year later she gave up her practice in Monroe and went to Chicago and taught there in the Chicago School of Osteopathy in the winter of 1902-3.  She also took up the study of homeopathy, from which branch of medicine she was graduated in April 1904.  After her graduation she entered St. Hedwig's Hospital in Chicago as interne and served there during the winter of 1904-5. The following July she came to Newton and opened an office for the practice of osteopathy.  Success crowded her efforts, and during the years she has been in Newton she has built up a large and lucrative practice and is recognized as one of its leading and prominent physicians. She is an active member of the state and district osteopathic associations and is eligible to membership in the National Osteopathic Association.  She is a zealous member and active worker in the United Presbyterian Church.

The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 454.