DR. ABRAM P. IRVINE. However well compensated a physician may be for his services, and the cases are very numerous in which he neither asks nor receives compensation, his profession must ever be regarded as the noblest and most beneficial to mankind. Dr. Abram P. Irvine has attained eminence in his profession and being of a cheerful disposition himself, he has the faculty of imparting courage to those who are despondent from illness, and his skill in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases is the cause of the success he has won in his profession.
He was born in Boyle County, Kentucky, in 1848, a son of Abram and Amelia (Moss) Irvine, who were also born on Blue Grass soil, the father September 7, 1796, and the mother March 7, 1809, their union taking place January 12, 1826. The father was a man of more than ordinary ability and intelligence, and transacted all the ordinary business of the neighborhood in which he lived, such as writing wills, deeds, etc. He had a fine library for his day and was exceptionally well informed on general topics. He tilled the soil successfully until his death, which occurred February 22, 1849, and his widow survived him until November 20, 1869, both being worthy members of the Presbyterian Church at the time of their deaths. His father, John Irvine, was of Scotch-Irish descent, but was born in Virginia February 3, 1758, and died in what is now Boyle County, Kentucky, August 23, 1814, of which section he was a very early settler. His wife, Prudence Irvine, also died in Kentucky April 4, 1824, her birth having occurred in September, 1761. Nine children were born of their union. The great-grandfather, Abram Irvine, was born in Scotland and is supposed to have died in Virginia. The Grandfather Moss was an Irishman and was one of the very early settlers of Boyle County, Kentucky He was killed during the Mexican War. His widow, Lucy Moss, afterward married a Mr. Doneghy and died in Kentucky. She had two daughters by Mr. Moss: Lucinda, who married a Mr. Caldwell, and Amelia (Mrs. Irvine). She had several sons by Mr. Doneghy: James and John, the former of whom was a captain and the latter a surgeon in Gen. Price’s army during the war. Dr. Abram P. Irvine was the youngest of fourteen children born to his parents, seven of whom died quite young. The others were: Lucy, wife of the late Rev. R. H. Caldwell, a prominent Cumberland Presbyterian minister of Kentucky; Leonidas, a farmer of Boyle County, Kentucky; Joseph W., who died in 1892, was a farmer of Kentucky; Ellen P. is the wife of Joseph McDowell, of Kentucky; Margaret L. is the wife of A. C. McElroy, of Kentucky, and Gabriel C., who died in Kentucky about 1891.
The immediate subject of this sketch, Dr. A. P. Irvine, was reared on a farm and was educated in Center College at Danville, Kentucky, and in 1882 he graduated from the Memphis (Tennessee) Medical College, after which he practiced his profession near that city until 1884, then came to his present location where he has already made himself well known as a skillful and successful medical practitioner. He owns a good farm and a beautiful home, and his place is remarkably well improved in various ways, there being a fine orchard of choice fruits near his home. He began doing for himself by teaching school for some years, for although a comfortable fortune was left him and his brothers and sisters by their father, he lost his during the financial crisis of 1873 and was compelled to commence the battle of life without means. He was married in 1869 to Bettie, daughter of Joseph W. and Susan H. (Caldwell) Fleece, native Kentuckians, who died in Memphis, Tennessee, the former of whom was a merchant and afterward a trader and money loaner. Mrs. Irvine was born in Boyle County, Kentucky, and of eight children born to herself and the Doctor, six are living. Dr. and Mrs. Irvine are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Greeley in 1872.