San
Francisco County
Biographies
MRS. M. D. STOCKHAM, M.
D.
Mrs. M. D. Stockham, M. D., a physician of Oakland since 1877, was born in
Vermont, a daughter of Samuel
and Maria (Wells) Hemenway, both natives of Massachusetts, and moved with them to
Ohio, in the ninth year of
her age, settling in Geauga county. The father lived to the age of sixty-two,
though his condition had been weakened by a severe attack of measles at the age
of twenty-five. The mother, naturally a
strong, healthy woman, died at the age of fifty-three, of acute disease. The subject of this sketch was married in Chester, Ohio, 1848, to William
Wilson, born in Ohio, a son of Luke and
Melissa (Bothwell) Wilson, the father being a native of Granville, Washington county,
New
York. After their
marriage Mr. and Mrs. William Wilson lived for some years in Kirtland, Lake county,
Ohio, engaged chiefly in
farming. Mrs. Wilson took up the study
of medicine in the Homeopathic Medical College of Cleveland. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson moved to Fremont county,
Iowa, in 1862, settling in Tabor, where Mrs. Wilson continued her medical
studies with a local physician, and under the instructions of the dean of the
Cleveland College. Having obtained the
usual license, Mrs. Dr. Wilson practiced her
profession in Tabor until 1869, and in Council Bluffs for five years. In 1874 she came to California, and, receiving a
certificate as a homeopathic physician from the State Board, she practiced in
Marysville two and half years. There Mr.
Wilson died, of apoplexy, in 1877, at the age of fifty-seven. Before the close of the year she came to Oakland with her two surviving
children, and has practiced here ever since, except in 1881-2, when she was ill
of Bright’s disease. Given up by
visiting physicians as beyond all hope of recovery, she took full charge of her
own case, and by noting all changes and carefully seeking the proper remedy for
each phase, she succeeded in securing her complete recovery. She has since published a pamphlet on the
subject, which has attracted some attention; has been very successful in
treating Bright’s disease of the kidneys, diabetes, etc. During her illness she spent some months in Colorado, which proved of some
benefit. She has for many years
conducted a cancer hospital on Twelfth street, Oakland, besides attending to her
general practice.
Mrs. Dr. Wilson had four sons: Arthur L.,
born in 1849, married in Council Bluff Miss Helen Moore (a native of Kirtland,
Ohio), and died in Pueblo, Colorado, at the age of twenty-four years, the
result of an accident and the bursting of a small blood-vessel terminating in
consumption. He had two children, who
died in infancy. Alton S., her second son,
died of diphtheria, in Kirtland, Ohio, at the age of ten
years. Her oldest surviving son is A. W.
Wilson, born in 1854, married in Oakland to Miss Sophia Meally,
and has one daughter, Marrilla Jane, born July 25,
1888. Her other son is Armo H. Wilson, of Oakland,
born in 1856, married Miss Ethel Brodt of Pleasanton, and has one child, Arthur
B., born June 26, 1889.
Mrs. Dr. M. D. Wilson was again married, January
26, 1890,
to Dr. G. H. Stockham, of Oakland, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and educated in that
city. Dr. Stockham is a member of the
Eclectic Medical Society of Alameda county,
and a writer of marked ability on professional topics. He is recently the author of the work
entitled, “Temperance and Prohibition,” which is considered a very able
treatise. He is the father of two
children by a former marriage, both residents of Chicago, namely: William H., now connection with the Illinois
Malleable Iron Works in that city, and Cora L., the proprietor and editor of
the “Kindergarten,” a monthly magazine now published in Chicago.
Mrs. Dr. Stockham continues in the practice
of her profession, is a member of the California Homeopathic Medical Society,
being willing to accept right principles from any source.
Transcribed by Donna L. Becker
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
pages 137-138, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2005 Donna L.
Becker.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library