Los Angeles County
Biographies
CHARLES PRESTON THOMAS
THOMAS, CHARLES
PRESTON, Surgeon, Los Angeles, California,
was born in Lincoln, Missouri,
November 12, 1864, the son of Eli C. Thomas and Eleanor (Wainwright) Thomas. He
married Elsie Beckon at Spokane, Washington,
November 6, 1902.
Dr. Thomas
received his early education in the public schools of his native town and
followed this with a two-year course at the Missouri
State Normal School
at Warrensburg, graduating with a certificate as teacher. He taught in the schools of Missouri
during the session of 1883-84 and moved at that time to Oregon.
He entered the
medical department of the University of Oregon
and was graduated in 1888, having spent the last year of his studies in the University
Hospital. Shortly after his graduation he went to Wilbur,
Washington, where he became head of the
Medical Department of the Central Washington Railroad, then in course of
construction. After remaining at Wilbur
for about eighteen months he was transferred to Fairhaven,
Washington, and remained there in charge of
the company’s medical affairs for about three years. At the end of that time he moved to Everett,
Washington, where he remained until 1896.
During these
eight years Dr. Thomas devoted several months of each to special study and post
graduate work, thus keeping apace of medical progress despite his location in
an undeveloped section of the country.
In 1896 Dr.
Thomas located in Spokane, Washington,
where he specialized in surgery and for fourteen and a half years was one of
the leading surgeons in the Northwestern section of the United
States.
During this period he was chief surgeon for St. Luke’s Hospital and
performed thousands of operations.
Aside from his
professional work, Dr. Thomas was actively engaged in the banking and real
estate business in Spokane and
occupied a leading position among the business men of that city.
In the year 1910
Dr. Thomas visited Los Angeles and, deciding to make his future home there,
sold out his banking interests in Spokane, although he retained his real estate
holdings in the northern city. He opened
offices in Los Angeles in August of
the same year and has been engaged in surgical practice there since.
As in Spokane,
Dr. Thomas invaded the banking field in Southern California
shortly after his arrival there. He
began by purchasing the Merchants’ National Bank of Santa Monica,
California, a suburb of Los Angeles,
and has occupied the office of President of the institution since that
time. He has added enterprises to this
and is also the holder of a large amount of real estate in and about Los
Angeles, so that within the short space of two years
he came to be recognized as one of the most active factors in the financial
operations of the great Southwest.
Although he has devoted a large portion of
his time to business affairs, Dr. Thomas also has steadily maintained his
surgical practice and is a member of the various professional societies,
including the Los Angeles County Medical Society, the Medical Society of the
State of California and the
American medical Association. The doctor
has also contributed occasionally papers to the medical publications on
subjects in surgery.
The doctor is a
believer in the future of Southern California and has joined with the forces
engaged in the development of Los Angeles and surrounding territory, now in the
midst of a growth regarded by experts as one of the most phenomenal in the
history of the United States.
He is a member of
the University Club of Los Angeles.
Transcribed 7-6-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 104,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2008 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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