James H. Bean, M. D., has attained a distinctive position in connection with the medical fraternity of southern Idaho, and is now successfully engaged in practicing in Pocatello, where he also conducts a drug store. Realizing the importance of the profession, he has carefully prepared himself for his chosen life work, and spares no effort that will further perfect him along that line. By the faithful performance of each day’s duty he finds inspiration and added strength for the labors of the next, and his marked skill has secured him prestige as the representative of one of the most important professions to which man may direct his energies.
Dr. Bean is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born October 23, 1856, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father, James Bean, was born in London, England, and there married Miss Harriet Harvey. In 1856 they came to the United States, locating in Boston, where the father engaged in business as a florist for a time. Later he was connected with the coal trade for twenty-five years, and is now living retired, at the advanced age of eighty years. In 1876 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in her fifty-seventh year. They were consistent members of the Episcopal Church, and people of genuine worth, who won the warm regard of all with whom they came in contact. In their family were nine children, eight of whom are living.
The Doctor was educated in the schools of Medford, Massachusetts, and began the study of medicine with an army physician, after which he entered the medical department of Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, and was graduated in the class of 1873. Desiring to still further perfect himself for his chosen calling, he then matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia, where he was graduated in 1877. For a year thereafter he practiced in a hospital in that city and then removed to Denver, Colorado, where he remained until 1882. In that year he came to Idaho as assistant surgeon of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, in which capacity he served for fifteen years, and in addition carried on a large general practice, being located first at Eagle Rock, whence he came to Pocatello in 1888. He is well versed in the science of medicine and is very capable in every department of the practice, ranking second to none in this part of the state. His special interest, however, is in surgery, and he is very expert in that line. He has now a large and lucrative practice, and in addition conducts a well appointed drug store, which adds not a little to his income.
The Doctor also has a pleasant home in Pocatello, which is presided over by the lady who became his wife in 1884, and who bore the maiden name of Delia Priestley. At that time she was a resident of Lawrence, Kansas. The Doctor and his wife attend the Episcopal Church and are members of the Pocatello Society. The Doctor was made a Master Mason in Eagle Rock Lodge, No. 19, A. F. & A. M., at Eagle Rock, in 1885. is a charter member of the Idaho State Medical Association, and was one of the organizers of the Rocky Mountain Inter-state Medical Association. Among his professional brethren he occupies an enviable position, and both he and his estimable wife are highly regarded in social circles.