JAMES LE GRAND, M. D. In a comprehensive work of this kind, dealing with industrial pursuits, sciences, arts and professions, it is only fit and right that that profession on which, in some period or other of our lives (the medical profession) we are all more or less dependent, should be noticed. It is the prerogative of the physician to relieve or alleviate the ailments to which suffering humanity is heir, and as such he deserves the most grateful consideration of all. A prominent physician, who, by his own ability, has attained distinction in his profession, is Dr. James Le Grand, who was born in Dubois County, Indiana, December 26, 1843, the elder of two children born to John and Sophia (Hanks) Le Grand, the former of whom was born in the Old North State, but who, at an early day, became a resident of Indiana, in which State he married and made his home until 1848. He was the father of eight children by his first wife, whom he lost in the State in which he married her, and he afterward married the widow of Dillon Lynch, who bore him six children. He then wedded Miss Hanks, and by her became the father of two children; James and his sister Rebecca, who is deceased, making in all sixteen children born to him. John Le Grand removed to Missouri during the boyhood of his son James and made his home in St. Francois and Bollinger Counties, dying in the latter about 1872, having always been a prominent member of the Republican party. He held a number of official positions in Indiana as well as in Missouri, such as deputy sheriff, justice of the peace, etc., and was a man of much local prominence. His wife made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Nancy Davidson, in this county until her death, in November, 1893, at the age of eighty-seven years.
The early life of Dr. James Le Grand was spent in St. Francois County, and during his youth he was an attendant of the common schools. At the early age of seventeen years he left the home of his boyhood and enlisted in Company C, Thirty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry., under Col. Fisk, but at the end of six months was honorably discharged from the service, after which he removed to Indiana, where he remained until the war closed. He then returned to St. Francois County and started out in life as a school teacher, an occupation which took up his time and attention for five years, during which time he became well known as an able, efficient and pains-taking educator. He then began the study of medicine and entered upon the practice of that profession in Bollinger County, Missouri, where he continued to make his home until his removal to Newton County, Arkansas, in 1876. He has resided in the town of Jasper ever since, and has built up a large and lucrative practice, the result of conscientious and painstaking work. The Doctor has always been a Republican and has taken an active part in the political affairs of his section, although he has never been an aspirant for office. He was married in St. Francois County, Missouri, to Miss Charity M. Reed, who died after giving birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, who is also deceased. In 1869 the Doctor married Miss Julia Hudson, a daughter of Joel Hudson, who came from Ohio to this State in 1873, and died here in 1875, his widow being still a resident of the county. They were the parents of four children: Julia; Mary, wife of P. E. Goodall; John, and Anna, wife of Jesse Hickman. Mrs. Le Grand was born in Tennessee, April 15, 1861, and has borne the Doctor four children, only one of whom survives, Charles, who is in his twelfth year. Those deceased are Cora, Nora and James R. Cora lived to be about fifteen years old but the others died young. The Doctor and his wife are members of the Christian Church, in which he is a deacon, and socially he is a member of Limestone Valley Lodge No. 104, of the A. F. & A. M. The Doctor does not depend wholly upon his practice for his living, but is also engaged in the sale of drugs at Jasper, which brings him in a neat little income annually.
Dr. Le Grand’s paternal ancestors were of French extraction, his grandfather, William Le Grand was a soldier of the Revolution, he was a prominent man in the early history of this country, and won a wide reputation as an able educator. The mother of Dr. Le Grand, Sophia Hanks, was a daughter of Sarah Hanks, a sister of the mother of Abraham Lincoln, Nancy Hanks.