Last Updated on October 16, 2011 by
J. W. Dora, M. D., physician and surgeon, Mattoon; was born near Augusta, Bracken Co., Ky., May 5, 1827; he enjoyed the advantages of select schools, and attended Augusta College a short time before its suspension; in 1847, he went to Cincinnati, and became a student in Bartlett’s Commercial College, from which he graduated in the spring of 1848; he then devoted himself to book-keeping for the firm of J. O. Prather & Co., about a year; in the winter of 1849, he began the study of medicine, under Dr. George R. Todd, of Cynthiana, Ky., a brother of Mrs. A. Lincoln; during the winter of 1850 and 1851, he attended the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and the following spring, engaged in the practice of his profession, at Buena Vista, Ky.; the winter of 1851 and 1852, he was again a student in the College, and graduated in the spring following, when he again returned to his practice; in August, 1855, he came West to Illinois, and located in Mattoon; during the winter of 1855 and 1856, he attended a course of lectures in the Eclectic Medical College, at Cincinnati; returning home he remained here in the practice until October, 1863, when he moved to Chicago; during his residence of two years in Chicago, he received a degree from the Rush Medical College; in April, 1865, he returned to Mattoon, and has since resided here. He was married in the spring of 1850, to Martha E. Smith, a native of Harrison Co., Ky.; she died March 27, 1872; Nov. 10, 1875, he was married to S. A. McQuown, a native of Kentucky; has four children from first wedlock-Leonia C. (wife of F. D. Dole ), Helen M., John W., Maggie E. He was first Mayor of the city, and for a number of years member of the City Council; also held the office of City Treasurer a number of terms.