Dr. George W. Haverstick, a physician and surgeon of St. Louis, was born in De Soto, Missouri, January 8, 1866. His father, the late William J. Haverstick, also a native of this state, was a son of George Washington Haverstick, while the latter’s father was a native of Switzerland and became one of the pioneer settlers of Missouri, where he took up his abode ere the admission of the state into the union. He became a resident of Jefferson county, being among the first to locate in De Soto. William J. Haverstick was reared and educated in De Soto and for many years successfully followed farming and stock raising in Jefferson county. He passed away at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Vinyard, was born in Jefferson county, Missouri, a daughter of the late Belleview Vinyard, who was born in Virginia and became one of the early residents of Jefferson county, Missouri. His ancestors came from England on the Mayflower. The death of Mrs. Elizabeth Haverstick occurred in De Soto, Missouri, in 1919, when she was seventy- three years of age. By her marriage she had become the mother of six sons and three daughters and eight of the family are living.
Dr. Haverstick of this review, the third child and eldest son, was educated in the public schools of his native city and in the State University at Cape Girardeau. His early life to the age of seventeen years was spent on the home farm and he then entered upon the profession of teaching, which he followed for two years in his native county. He regarded this, however, merely as an initial step to other professional labor and at the end of that period matriculated in the Beaumont Hospital Medical College of St. Louis, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1896. Following his graduation he served for a year as an interne in the Alexian Brothers Hospital and during the succeeding two years served as a member of the medical staff of the same hospital. Since then he has been in active and successful practice, specializing on the diseases of children, and has been extremely successful in that department of professional work. He has the faculty of easily winning the confidence and trust of children and this is a valuable asset to his professional labors. At the same time he has comprehensive knowledge of the great scientific principles upon which the profession is based and keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress resulting from thorough investigation and study. He belongs to the St. Louis Medical Library Association and also to the Alumni Association of St. Louis University.
At Columbia, Missouri, Dr. Haverstick was married to Miss Julia Burgess, a native of this state and a daughter of the Rev. J. D. Burgess, a well known Baptist clergyman. They have become parents of one child, Waynetta, who was born in St. Louis, April 13, 1908.
In politics Dr. Haverstick is a stanch democrat, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He is also a Mason, belonging to Tuscan Lodge, No. 360, A. F. & A. M., St. Aldemar Commandery and Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. During the World war he was active in support of all those projects and interests which upheld the government and maintained a strong defense of the home line back of the firing line.
