"Dr.Thomas-William-Burton

He was an African American surgeon,author,poet,and medical association administrator.He was born near Tates Creek,Madison County,Kentucky.He was the youngest of 15 children of  Edward & Eliza Burton,who were enslaved.His daddy died when he was five and his mama died when he was nine.

In 1881,DR. Thomas attended Brea College in Kentucky.In 1889 he moved to Indianapolis, working with Dr.William Chavis,waiting tables,working in a lumberyard,and in private homes to pay for school.From 1890-1891,he attended the Medical College of Indiana,and a year later,the Eclectic College of Physicians and Surgeons,where he graduated on March 24,1892.

After becoming a full-fledged M.D., Dr.Thomas moved to Springfield,Ohio,April 5,1892,and started his own practice of medicine and surgery.On August 3,1893,he married Hattie B.Taylor,Cynthiana Kentucky.In 1897,after serving as a doctor in the army,Dr.Thomas wrote a few articles for the Eclectic Medical for the journal," printed monthly at Cincinnati.Dr.Burton also saw the need of a state medical society composed of Negro physicians.He and a colleague,Dr. H.R. Hawkins of Xenia,Ohio,organized Ohio Mutual Medical Association.In 1910,he published his first book, "What Experience has taught me; An Autobiography of Thomas William Burton." In 1939 and the following day his picture with the announcement of his death was on the front page of the Springfield Daily News(March 24,1939).