McDonough ILGenWeb

BACON, Joseph Barnes, M. D.--A near approach to an ideal standard in medical attainments and practice is manifest in the career of Dr. Joseph B. Bacon, of Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois, whose reputation as a physician and surgeon is not circumscribed by the limits of that city and county. Beyond these local environments has spread a recognition of the breadth of his scientific research, and the effective use he has made of exceptional acquirements. The acknowledged status reached by Dr. Bacon in his chosen sphere of endeavor is abundant evidence of the possession of those traits of mind and character which are essential to the achievement of distinction in the medical profession. His success is attributable to a keen perceptive faculty, firmness in decision, constancy of purpose, a spirit of thorough investigation of all biological problems, a determination to keep fully abreast of modern developments in pathology, and a rigid observance of the strictest rules of ethics. During the institutional training of his preparatory period he brought to bear upon the successive courses of study pursued a degree of assiduity, diligence of application and concentration of mental force that constituted an augury of future prominence, and although he became through this instrumentality uncommonly well versed in medical theory, he has never ceased to be a student. Even after he had developed into a practitioner of established repute, he was not content until he had sought other sources of instruction in noted universities of the Old World. Thus perfecting his mental resources by persistent delving into the mysteries of his calling, he has acquired a degree of theoretical and practical skill adequate to meet all the emergencies arising in critical stages of intricate and complicated maladies.

Joseph Barnes Bacon was born in the village of Tennessee, McDonough County, Illinois, January 14, 1854, and is a son of Larkin Crouch and Hanor (Durbin) Bacon. His father was a native of Tennessee, having been born at Jonesboro in that state in 1818. His mother was born in Louisville, KY., February 24, 1825. Larkin Crouch Bacon was a farmer by occupation, and a man of notable intelligence and admirable traits of character. In boyhood Joseph B. Bacon made himself useful as best he could on the paternal farm, meanwhile attending the district school in the vicinity of his home. Later in youth he became a pupil in the Branch Academy, at Macomb, and afterwards pursued a course in the Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill. In 1879, he applied himself to the study of medicine in the Texas Medical College, at Galveston, following this in 1881 by a course in the Chicago Medical College. On graduating from the institution last named, he devoted his attention to the practice of his profession. In 1884, he went abroad, and in that and the year following, took post-graduate courses at Heidelberg and Vienna. Dr. Bacon subsequently acted in the capacity of Instructor in Gynecology at the Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, and at a still later period, was connected with the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School as Professor of Diseases of the Rectum. In 1902, he founded the St. Francis Hospital at Macomb, of which he is Surgeon-in-Chief. His discharge of the important function devolving upon him in this institution has enhanced his reputation, already high, and he ranks among the most skillful surgeons in that section of the state.

On September 12, 1888, Dr. Bacon was united in marriage with Elizabeth Lisle Bailey, who was born at Macomb, Ill., October 25, 1865. Two children are the result of this union, namely: William Sutherland Bacon, born February 23, 1891, and Dorothy Lisle Bacon, born February 18 1896. Politically, Dr. Bacon was a Republican until 1896, when he allied himself with the Democratic party. In fraternal circles he is identified with the A. F. & A. M., in which he is a charter member of the Macomb Commandery, Knights Templar. Professionally, he holds memberships in the American Medical Association; The American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the Illinois State Medical Society; the Chicago Gynecological Society, and the Chicago academy of Medicine.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907. Submitted by Joanne Scobee Morgan morgans4@swbell.net