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Below is a family biography from the book, History of Kentucky, Edition 8a by J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin and G. C. Kniffin and published by F. A. Battey Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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JOHN ALBERT LARRABEE, M. D., came of an old French family which traces its advent into this country to the edict of Nantes, in the year 1685, when 400,000 protestants called Huguenots quitted France and found homes in other countries. He was born at Little Falls, Gorham, Me., May 17, 1840, and is a son of John R. Larrabee, who was a prominent manufacturer of cotton fabrics. He received his academic education at Gorham, Bethel Hill and Brunswick academies. He graduated with honor at the Maine Medical School of Bowdoin College in 1864. In the late civil war he served first as medical cadet, entering the United States army by examination, and reported for duty under orders of the secretary of war at Louisville; afterward as acting assistant surgeon serving on land and sea in the department of Virginia, at Fortress Monroe and at Louisville, Ky. While still in the United States service he was married, on the 30th of March, 1865, to Miss Hattie Bulkley, a daughter of William H. Bulkley, of Louisville. The Bulkley family traces its origin back to William the Conqueror, 1066. The Larrabee and Bulkley arms adorn Dr. Larrabee’s residence in the Highlands. On retiring from the army Dr. Larrabee located in Louisville, and soon became an earnest worker in medical societies. He was one of the founders of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, of which he has been both secretary and president; he was for several years secretary of the Kentucky State Medical Society; a member of the International Congress meeting at Philadelphia in 1876; also a member of the Ninth Congress of 1887, and is a member of the American Medical Association. As a medical writer he has contributed largely to the medical journals of the day. Conspicuous among his contributions are: “Summer Complaints of Children,” “Epidemic Cerebro-spinal Meningitis,” “Rickets,” “Scarlet Fever,” “Chorea Rheumatism,” “Infantile Therapeutics.” His specialty is children’s diseases. He was elected to the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics and clinical lecturer on diseases of children in the Hospital College of Medicine in 1874, which chair he still holds.

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This family biography is one of 195 biographies included in the Jefferson County, Kentucky section of the book, The History of Kentucky, Edition 8a published in 1888 by F. A. Battey Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: History of Kentucky, Edition 8a

View additional Jefferson County, Kentucky family biographies here: Jefferson County, Kentucky Biographies

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