My Genealogy Hound

Dr. W. H. Heard. One of the earliest physicians to settle in Jackson County was Dr. Heard, who was born in Chicot County, on June 13, 1840. He is a son of John and Harriet N. (Hardy) Heard, of Georgia and Kentucky, respectively. The maternal grandfather was a colonel in the War of 1812, who was one of the earliest settlers, and died in Jackson County. Dr. Heard’s father, John Heard, was an extensive planter in Drew County, where he died during the war, the mother dying some time previous. They were the parents of six children, two of whom are still living: Dr. William H. and Emma (wife of Samuel Holloway). The Doctor was reared on the plantation in Arkansas, and was comparatively young when his parents died. He was attending school at the Georgetown College, in Kentucky, when the War of the Rebellion began, but when the news came into the school-room his youthful ardor was fired with the ambition to become a soldier, and he exchanged the books and orders of his spectacled professor to shoulder the musket and listen to the drum-beat and cannon. He enlisted in Company D, of the First Arkansas regiment, and served through the entire war, taking part in the battles of Farmington, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Perryville, campaigning through Georgia and in the retreat at Franklin, where he was captured and taken prisoner to Camp Douglas. He was here confined for six months, and then taken to the city of New Orleans and exchanged, and at Natchez received his parole. During his many battles he received a number of wounds, but happily recovered from all of them, and lives today to recount to his children the scenes of his struggle for the lost cause. After the war was over he returned to Jackson County, and began the study of medicine, and in 1869 graduated from the University of Louisville, and immediately commenced practicing. After an arduous practice of seven years he went to New York City in the fall of 1876, attended lectures at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, and received an ad eundem diploma from that institution in the spring of 1877. Up to the present time no man in the profession has exceeded his reputation as a skillful physician and surgeon, and, as a consequence, his practice is one of the largest in Jackson County. Dr. Heard was chosen as acting assistant surgeon of the United States Marine Hospital, and has held that position since 1882. He is a member of the State Medical Society, and has served on the board of examiners for some time, and in 1878 he was elected county treasurer, and served one term. In 1879 the Doctor was married to Miss Mattie Foushee, by whom he has had two children: Kate P. and Walter L. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, also the Royal Arcanum and Knights of Honor. Politically, the Doctor is a Democrat, and one of the strongest supporters of that party. He attends the Methodist Church, and is also one of the directors of the Newport Bank.