 The
daughter of Louisa (Ballard) and Ezekiel
Pilcher, Clarissa V. Pilcher was born on
the 7th of October 1845 in Springfield,
Illinois. Her parents Ezekiel and Louisa
were friends with the Abe and Mary
Lincoln. Her father, who was a carpenter,
was said to have made some of Lincoln's
furniture and Clarissa recalled how she
had sat on Abe lap when she was a child
and many years before he became the
sixteenth president.A great niece of
Joshua Pilcher, who was more like a
brother than cousin to her father so
close were they in age, that it may have
been from him and his experience with
medicine that Clarissa's became
interested in homeopathic medicine. Or
... it is possible her husband Tom's
maladies (as a result of the gun shot
wound received to the forehead during the
Civil War) and her need to care for him,
prompted her to study medicine.
She
attended the Medical College of Missouri
at the Old Physician and Surgeon's
College Building located at 1131 N.
Jefferson Ave and studied under Dr. James
A. Campbell, a professor of opthamology
and otholgy. She graduated 04 Mar 1886,
but sadly lived only a few years longer.
She died at their home located at 4221
Lucky Street in St. Louis on 07 Apr 1890.
A letter from Dr. Campbell and notes
taken by her husband after an operation,
detail her last hours.
She left
behind an adoring husband and six
children to mourn her, the youngest
having just celebrated her 3rd birthday.
Her
doctor's shingle now proudly hangs above
the desk of her 2nd great granddaughter,
Patricia Davidson-Peters.
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