Los
Angeles County
Biographies
WILLIAM
DUFFIELD, M. D.
Dr. William Duffield, a
practicing physician and surgeon of Los Angeles during the past three decades,
enjoys a nationwide reputation for his outstanding achievements in the field of
his chosen profession. He was born in
Bloomfield, Iowa, September 30, 1866, a son of John Marshall and Anna Martha
(Findley) Duffield, who afforded him excellent educational advantages in his
youth. He was graduated from the State
University of Iowa with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1890 and then began
specific preparation for a professional career as a student in the medical
department of the University of Pennsylvania, which in 1893 conferred upon him
the degree of M. D. It was in
Philadelphia that he served his internship.
In 1896 he made his way westward to Phoenix, Arizona, where he remained
for eight years and built up a very extensive and gratifying practice, becoming
known throughout the state for his work in the interests of public health. He was the author of the Arizona public
health law, served as the first state health officer and gained enviable
recognition as one of the valued and leading citizens of the commonwealth. In 1904 Dr. Duffield left Arizona for
California and took up his abode in Los Angeles, where he has continued in the
practice of medicine and surgery to the present time with marked success. In 1906 he was appointed trustee of the
nationally known Barlow Medical Library, thus serving until Los Angeles county
took over the entire library in 1925. He
has ever been an exponent of progress in the field of medical practice and at
all times has kept abreast with the latest discoveries and most advanced
methods of the profession. His
scientific accomplishments have won him national renown and his professional
colleagues and contemporaries recognize and follow his leadership. Dr. Duffield has served on nearly every
important medical committee which has functioned in the last twenty-five years,
belongs to numerous medical organizations, has served as president of the Los
Angeles County Medical Association, was also chosen president of the Southern
California Medical Association and was elected to the vice presidency of the
California medical Association. He
belongs to the patriotic society of the Sons of the Revolution and has many
warm friends among his fellow members of the University Club of Los Angeles.
In 1906 Dr. Duffield married Ella W.
McCann and to them was born a daughter, now Mrs. R. W. Kenny, of Los
Angeles. Mrs. Duffield is nationally
known as a writer of children’s songs and figures prominently in social circles
of this city.
Transcribed by
Mary Ellen Frazier.
Source:
California of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty,
Pages 803-804, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2013 Mary Ellen Frazier.
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NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES BIOGRAPHIES