William Calvin Ussery (1861 - 1941)

Born 21 Oct 1861 in Anna, Union Co, IL

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 May 1941 at age 79 in Paris, Bourbon Co, KY

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Biography

William Calvin Ussery was born October 21, 1861, to Martin Van Buren and Eliza (Meisenheimer) Ussery, in Anna, Illinois. William grew up in Anna along with his sister, Luella, born in 1866. William’s father was a butcher by trade. William attended medical school at the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating in 1890. At some point before, during or after medical school William was a member of a circus band, playing clarinet (I have his wooden clarinet and case). The circus band stopped in Paris, Kentucky, and according to Mammy (Dorcas Gunn), he made the statement that Paris was a nice town that he wouldn’t mind living in. Apparently, he followed up on that statement, because on October 28, 1898, he married a widow, Margaret Ferguson Waller who lived in Paris. Ms. Waller had three children from a previous marriage to Thomas Harrison Waller, who died on November 9, 1890, as a result of injuries from a barn fire on his property. The Waller offspring included: James William, Lillian, and Martha Hume (Aunt Martha Clark). Dr. Ussery and Margaret had one child, Dorcas Hampton Ussery. According to Mammy, her father doted on her big time. He would take her everywhere he went in Paris, often placing her and their dog on a blanket on the sidewalk while he got his hair cut or shopped in the store. Dr. Ussery lost his wife in 1914 and never married again. In 1930, Dr. Ussery took his grandson, William Ussery Gunn, to Europe. Dr. Ussery also served as President of the minor league baseball, Blue Grass League.

He continued to live in Paris at 625 High Street until his death on May 3, 1941. Dr. Ussery was almost blind for the last several years of his life and family suggests that the fellow who served him absconded with quite a bit of money. He is buried in Anna, Illinois at the Anna Cemetery. ^[1]

Sources

"College Commencements", https://archive.org/details/cincinnatilance10unkngoog?q=William+Calvin+Ussery, The Cincinnati Lancet-Clinic, Cincinnati, OH, 8 Mar 1890.

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9WD-CJN : accessed 21 October 2015), William C Ussery, Magisterial District 1, Paris (east part), Precinct 2 Paris city Ward 1, Bourbon, Kentucky, United States; citing sheet 11A, family 245, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,240,508.

"Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NS9K-WMN : 9 January 2019), Dr. William Calvin Ussery, 3 May 1941; citing Death, Paris, Bourbon, Kentucky, United States, certificate , Office of Vital Statistics, Frankfort; FHL microfilm 1,913,547.

"Deaths", https://archive.org/details/cincinnatilance10unkngoog?q=William+Calvin+Ussery, The Journal of the American Medical Association, Chicago, IL, 12 Jul 1942.

Find a Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=72428700)

1. ↑ Bryant L Morgan, Knoxville TN, 21 Oct 2015