William R. Cooper postcards

Dr. William Ridge Cooper was born at Point Pleasant, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on August 26, 1862, to Dr. Alfred M. and Elizabeth (Ridge) Cooper. Cooper attended public school there, and later the first Pennsylvania State Normal school at Millersville, Pennsylvania. He studied medicine with his father for two years and then entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he graduated in 1885, and began to practice the same year as an assistant to his father.

Five years later, he established an office of his own. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, and the Lehigh Valley Medical Association. He was a member of the Point Pleasant Baptist church, where he served as a trustee. Cooper married Mary Smith Shaddinger, daughter of Andrew and Martha (Smith) Shaddinger, of Point Pleasant, on March 20, 1890. They had two children, Lloyd Napier, and Dorothy S.

Cooper died April 1, 1925.

Source: Davis, William H. History of Bucks County, Pa. Volume 3. New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905. Courtesy of Bucks County PA GenWeb. http://pagenweb.org/~BUCKS/BIOS_DAVIS/cooperwilliam.html

The William R. Cooper postcards date from February through December of 1893. There are ten postcards in the collection, all from patients reporting new cases or requesting visits from Cooper. The majority of the postcards (seven) were written by a Mrs. C. A. Weidemann during February of 1893, and concern the health and post-operative condition of a man named Comly, who seemed to suffer from some sort of bladder ailment. An eighth postcard written in March 1893 by another correspondent relates Comly's failing health. The other two postcards, also written by other correspondents, date to September and December of 1893, and request visits from Cooper.

This collection was discovered during a survey in the summer and fall of 2015.

Publisher

Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Finding aids author

Chrissie Perella

Date

October 2018

Creator

Cooper, William R. (William Ridge)

Subject

Bladder -- Diseases

Patients

Physician and patient -- History

Physicians -- Pennsylvania -- Bucks (county) -- Nineteenth century

Language

English

Form

Correspondence