Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
J. D. Kerr, M.D.
A native of Henry county, Indiana, born December 31, 1863, the subject of this sketch comes of a family of physicians, several of whom have attained distinction in the profession, and he seems to have inherited in a marked degree love for the noble task of succoring those laid low by disease or accident.
Dr. Kerr, now engaged in practice in Green's Fork, Wayne county, was but two years old when his father, Daniel Webster Kerr, a young man of but twenty-four years of age, was summoned to the silent land, in January, 1866. The child was reared in the home of his paternal grandfather, Dr. William M. Kerr, one of the prominent and renowned physicians of Henry county, and from his early years was made thoroughly familiar with all departments of medical science. For two-score years or more the grandfather was actively engaged in practice, and in pioneer days was obliged to ride far and wide to answer the calls of distant patients, his own home being in Stony Creek township.
After having made excellent progress in his efforts to gain an education, and in 1882 having been graduated in the high school at New Castle, Indiana, our subject went to Storm Lake, Iowa, where he engaged in the drug business with a relative, Dr. William H. Kerr. At the end of two years he returned to this state end embarked in the same line of business in partnership with N. P. Carter, his paternal uncle. After they had been pleasantly and profitably associated together for several years, Mr. Carter withdrew from the firm and Dr. Kerr carried on the business alone. Many years before he had contemplated entering the medical profession, and had studied with his grandfather and others, and in the fall of 1895 he matriculated in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis. There he took one course of lectures and the following winter attended the medical department of the university at Louisville, Kentucky. In the spring of 1898 he was graduated in the Indiana Medical College, with the degree of doctor of medicine. Having pursued a systematic course of study and instruction under the guidance of Dr. John A. Larrabee, a celebrated specialist in the diseases of infants and children, Dr. Kerr passed an examination and was presented with a diploma January 31, 1897. Thus thoroughly prepared, theoretically and practically, for his professional work, the Doctor commenced the labors to which he expected to devote his best talents and energy. He has won the good will of his brethren in the profession and enjoys a large and growing patronage. In 1886 he was united in marriage with Miss Eva Reinheimer, a daughter of Adam Reinheimer, and to this estimable couple one child, Blanch M., has been born.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899