By Jessica Gorman
Dr. Hiram S. Newman came to what is now Webster Parish from Warren County, Pennsylvania in the 1830s. According to the history of that place, he was the first doctor at the village of Pine Grove. The loss to the community upon his departure is illustrated by the following quote. “It has been said that none who have since practiced here have filled his place.”
In 1822, The New York Evening Post reports Dr. Newman as having performed a successful operation to remove a portion of the tongue of a five year old child, Charles Osborn. Dr. Newman’s account of the amputation appears in several publications. According to the midwife who was present at the birth of the child, enlargement of the tongue was apparent at birth. However, the tongue seemed to grow about three times faster than the rest of the body. By the age of five, the tongue protruded from the mouth to the point that the child could not speak or chew. The surgery was performed on 4 October 1822. To treat the condition, a section of the tongue measuring 3 inches long, 2.75 inches wide, and 1.5 inches thick was removed. The amputation proved successful. “In two weeks, the lad was completely well.” However, two incisors required removal to allow for closure of the mouth. Dr. Newman reported that a year and a half after the surgery the boy had “completely regained the use of his jaw, his lips are properly closed, his taste is accurate, and his articulation so perfect, that he pronounces the letters of the alphabet very intelligibly.”
In 1824, a daughter, Harriett, was born to Dr. Newman and his wife, Sarah. Harriett died 11 October 1825. She was buried in the Fifth Street Cemetery. Almost two years later, on 30 July 1827, Sarah also passed and was buried alongside their daughter.
Not much else is currently known about Dr. Newman’s personal life. Besides caring for the medical needs of the community, he served as Justice of the Peace, a position he was appointed to in 1825, and was appointed postmaster of the Russelsburgh post office in July 1835. That appointment is one marker we can use to narrow down when Dr. Newman came to Louisiana.
You may wonder how a doctor in Pennsylvania in the 1830s came to live here. It wasn’t by chance. Dr. Newman had a neighbor in Warren County who had moved there from New York. That neighbor was Richard Alden. Richard Alden had a brother, Isaac. Isaac Alden, was the first known permanent settler in Webster Parish.
Isaac Alden came to this area, by way of New Orleans, around 1811. According to the Alden family history, “After a residence of many years in the South, he finally returned to his old home for a visit.” There, he gave “glowing descriptions of a country where the conditions of life seemed easier.” Subsequently, several members of the Alden family and other residents of Warren County joined Isaac in Louisiana.
It was at this time that work was underway to clear the Great Raft in the Red River and Bayou Dorcheat opened to navigation. This prompted several early Claiborne Parish settlers, including Newit Drew, to move nearer to this stream where a steamboat landing, often referred to as Drew’s Landing, was established. Around this same time, the Louisiana legislature decided to move the seat of Claiborne Parish from Russellville to a point near Dorcheat. In March 1836, it was ordered that the new parish seat be at “or within three miles of” Newit Drew’s residence. It was also ordered that the location chosen was to be named Overton.
Overton is where Dr. Newman came to sometime between his appointment as postmaster at Russelsburgh, Pennsylvania in July 1835 and March 1838 when he became the second postmaster at Overton. Sadly, his life would soon come to an end. On 6 August 1839, Dr. Newman died and was buried at Overton. Decades later his headstone would become dislodged and in 2001, it was mysteriously discovered in the book room at Minden High School. Today, that headstone can be seen at the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum.
(Jessica Gorman is the Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish Historian, and an avid genealogist.)