Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 446] the leading physician of Wampum, Big Beaver township, Lawrence County, has achieved a satisfactory degree of success in the practice of his profession in the above borough, and being still classed as a young man has a roseate future in store for him. He has been successful in gaining a good patronage in and about Wampum, and has given the people substantial reason to feel confidence in his ability as a physician. He was born Sept. 22, 1857 in Wurtemberg, this county, and was the youngest of eleven children born to Robert and Christiana (Liebendorfer) Mehard. His mother, when a child, was brought by her parents from Wurtemberg, Germany.
Robert Mehard, the Doctor's father, was a son of the Emerald Isle, his birth occurring in County Antrim, town of Lairn, in the northern part of Ireland in the year 1813. Three years later he was brought to the United States by his parents, James and Mary Mehard, who lived for a time in Philadelphia, removing thence to Wurtemberg. There the elder Mehard followed his trade, that of a millwright, and departed this life when he was aged eighty-six years; he taught his trade to his son Robert, who made it his life-work. Both father and son belonged to the United Presbyterian Church. Robert was a Whig during the life of that party, and on its dissolution transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, whose standard he ever afterward supported. He served as county commissioner for fourteen years. He was seventy-five years of age when called to his reward in 1888.
Dr. Mehard's education was commenced in the district schools of his native town. Being ambitious and of a studious turn of mind, he succeeded in obtaining a college education, entering Washington and Jefferson College at the age of seventeen, and graduating in the spring of 1879. His desire for knowledge was still unsatisfied, and his decision to study medicine prepared the way for his entrance to the Cleveland Medical College in the following fall; his graduation took place two years later. A course in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, completed a thorough equipment in 1882, and he at once opened an office in Wurtemberg. He remained in his native town nine years, when he became attracted by the advantageous location of Wampum, whither he removed, and immediately took his station as one of the best physicians of Lawrence County. Dr. Mehard has built his excellent reputation on his conscientious efforts and on his wide experience and surpassing skill in medical lines. He keeps abreast of the times by judicious and exhaustive reading of the latest medical works, but at the same time does not disdain to employ a method that has proven successful for many years, nor to conduct his general practice on well-established lines, believing it to be for the interest of his patients to refrain from employing rather doubtful procedures.
Dr. Mehard clings to the traditions of his fathers, and is a true-blue Republican. He is a member of three fraternal orders: Mahoning Lodge of New Castle, No. 243, F. & A. M.; Wampum Lodge, I. O. O. F.; and Wampum Lodge, No. 240, Knights of Pythias. In his civic relations, our subject performs whatever duties fall to him in a cheerful, obliging manner, and is ever ready to exert himself in furthering the prosperity of his town or the county.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 6 Jul 2001