Dr. Harry C. Stinson

From Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas, Vol II, pg 1085-86

Dr. Harry C. Stinson is the leading physician and surgeon of Dermott, Ark., and to his skill and talent in alleviating the pains and ailments to which the human body is heir, he deserves the gratitude of hundreds. He was born in Newport, of the Blue-Grass State, July 18, 1853, and is a son of Dr. John B. Stinson, who was born at Evansville, Ind., and is a descendant of one of the oldest settlers of that portion of the State. He was a man of exceptionally fine intellect, and was a graduate of the Jefferson Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio. He removed from the State of Kentucky to Louisiana about 1854, when that State was almost a wilderness, and in his new home began the practice of his profession, which continued to receive his attention until his death March 2, 1873. The paternal grandfather, Maj. John B. Stinson, was a Virginian, born of English parents in 1787, and was a pioneer to Indiana Territory, settling at Evansville, in 1820, while the Indians still thickly inhabited that region, and had to undergo all the hardships incident to pioneer life in a new and wild country. He was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and was with Gen. Andrew Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, and for gallantry was commissioned captain in the Tenth Indiana Militia, and later was commissioned, major in the same regiment, by Gov. Jennings, commander-in- chief of the Indiana Militia. He was also a brave officer in Harrison's Indian War, and in later years, being a man of intelligence and great decision of character, he filled the position of probate judge for many years. He was a minister of the gospel, and for more than thirty years preached the doctrines of the Baptist Church, and passed from this life in 1850, aged about sixty- three years. Mrs. Fannie (Capes) Stinson, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a Kentuckian born and bred, and in her youth received her education in Cincinnati, Ohio, and she and Dr. John B. Stinson were married near that city, in 1853, becoming the parents of two sons and one daughter: Harry C. and Kate (wife of Edward Myrick, a prominent merchant and planter, of Girard, La.), being the only ones living. Benjamin died at Girard at the age of twelve years.

Dr. Harry C. Stinson was reared in Louisiana, being about one year old when his parents moved to that State from Kentucky, and here good educational advantages were enjoyed, his literary course being completed in a college in Baton Rouge, La. He was in his graduating year in this institution when his father's death occurred, and as he returned home, and did not again go back to school, he failed to take his degree. After deciding to make the profession of a physician his calling through life, he immediately began his preparatory studies, and in 1881 and 1882 attended lectures at the Louisville Medical College, graduating with high honors in the latter year. He then settled at Dermott, Chicot County, Ark., where he has a large and paying practice, and enjoys the reputation of being a physician and surgeon of more than ordinary ability, and is deservedly very popular in his county. As an evidence of his skill and ability he has been appointed medical examiner for all insurance companies doing business in his section, and his standing is a credit to himself, and the community at large. He is a gentleman of refined tastes, courteous, social and entertaining in his intercourse with his friends, of whom he has many. Though not a church member, he is a man of high moral standing, and in his political views is a Democrat, as were all his ancestors, and has taken an active interest in political matters, although not an office-seeker. On February 13, 1883, he was united in marriage to Miss Kate Wells, a native of Louisville, Ky., and a daughter of Jesse and Mary (Carey) Wells, the former a Kentuckian, being now deceased. The mother is a resident of Denver, Colo., having moved there from Kentucky in 1887. Dr. and Mrs. Stinson became the parents of two interesting little children, but only one is now living, Bessie Yandell. The son, Jesse 0. (died September 16, 18S2). Mrs. Stinson is a member of the Baptist Church.