Oscar B. Steely, M. D., is a prominent resident and physician living at Pocatello, Idaho, and is surgeon of the Idaho and Montana division of the Oregon Short Line Railroad. Dr. Steely was born in Belleville, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1862, and is descended from English and German ancestry. His forefathers in both lines were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and his maternal grandfather (Baker) did patriotic service as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His parents were William and Sarah (Baker) Steely, both natives of Pennsylvania. His father, who for many years was a successful dealer in meats, died at the age of seventy-six, in 1897. His wife died at the age of seventy-six, three days prior to the death of her husband. They lived happily as man and wife for forty-nine years and enjoyed in the highest sense the respect of all who knew them. They had eight children, four of whom are living and of whom Dr. Oscar B. Steely was the youngest born.
Dr. Steely was prepared for college in the public schools and was graduated from Pennsylvania College in the class of 1883 and from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1891. For a year thereafter he practiced in one of the principal hospitals of Philadelphia, and thus especially fitted himself for the duties of railway surgery. From that institution he came direct to Pocatello to accept the position, which had been tendered him, of assistant surgeon of the Union Pacific Railway. In 1896, when the Oregon Short Line was organized, he was appointed to his present position as surgeon of the Idaho and Montana divisions. He has had an extensive and varied experience in surgery in Idaho and adjoining states and as a skillful surgeon and physician has won a reputation of which a practitioner of twice his years might be justly proud. His standing with the profession is exceptionally high. Dr. Steely was a member of the State Medical Association of Pennsylvania, and is a member of the State Medical Association of Idaho and a member of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States. He was surgeon general of the state of Idaho under the administration of Governor McConnell. As is indicated by the fact that this honor was conferred upon him by such authority, he is a stanch Republican politically, but he is not in the accepted sense of the term a politician.
He was made a Mason in Cassin Lodge, No. 273, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and took the Royal Arch degree at Pocatello and is now high priest of his chapter. He has advanced slowly in the order from choice, and has made an exhaustive study of its principles as he has proceeded, applying them to his daily life, until he has adopted them as the rule of his conduct in all his relations with his fellow men. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. Personally he is popular wherever he is known and his acquaintance is large and growing rapidly, both professionally and socially.