Dr. Charles H. Pope, a physician and surgeon of St. Louis, was born in Sydenham Place, Quebec, Canada, August 10, 1876. He is descended from English ancestry and the family was originally founded in America soon after the Revolutionary war, the first of the name settling in eastern Vermont. His father, George L. Pope, was a native of Canada and became a successful farmer. He died in Quebec, where his widow still resides. She bore the maiden name of Elsie A. Blake and is of English lineage, tracing her ancestry back to the Pilgrims who came over in the Mayflower. In the family were five sons.
Dr. Pope, who is the fourth in order of birth, was educated in the public schools of Quebec and afterward attended McGill University and St. Francis College at Richmond, Quebec, thus acquiring a liberal literary education, while his professional training was equally comprehensive and thorough. He came to St. Louis to study medicine and completed his course in the Barnes University by graduating in the class of 1904. He immediately entered upon practice here and has since followed his profession most successfully. He is a member of the St. Louis Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Pope is a republican in his political views and an active worker in party ranks. He is prominent in Masonic circles, belonging to Olive Branch Lodge, No. 576, A. F. & A. M., is a past master of the lodge, past district lecturer and past district deputy grand master. He has taken the degrees of the Knights Templars and of the Scottish Rite bodies, is a member of the Grotto and of the Shrine and of the Eastern Star, of which he is a past patron. Dr. Pope belongs to the Triple A Golf Club, the St. Louis Amateur Athletic Association and the Missouri Athletic Association. He was for two years a member of the City Republican Central Committee and has been chairman of the Tenth Congressional District Committee and secretary of the Twelfth Congressional District Committee. When America was in the World war he was commissioned Captain in the Medical Corps and served at Fort Riley until the close of hostilities. Dr. Pope deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He worked his way through college, and his success in his profession is attributable entirely to his own efforts, his conscientious performance of duty and the high ideals which he cherishes. He turns for recreation to motoring, golf and good literature and the interests and activities of his life have ever maintained an evenly balanced character.