PIONEER PHYSICIAN
OF MISSOURI DEAD.
DR. WILLIS P. KING SUCCUMBS
AFTER LONG ILLNESS.
As a Practitioner and Author, Dr.
King Was Recognized Among
the Foremost of His
Profession.
DR. WILLIS P. KING.
Dr. Willis P. King, a pioneer physician of Missouri, died yesterday afternoon at 3:15 o'clock at the family home, 3031 Wabash avenue, after a lingering illness of four months. Dr. King had been unconscious for several days. Funeral services will be held at the home at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, after which the body will be sent to Sedalia for interment. Dr. Burris A. Jenkins of the Linwood Boulevard Christian church will conduct the funeral services at the house. The services at Sedalia will be conducted by the masons. Dr. King was 69 years old.
Willis Percival King was one of the pioneer physicians of Missouri. He began the practice of medicine in Missouri in a frontier county in 1866 after having mastered the profession of medicine and having graduated from the St. Louis Medical college, which course consisted only of lectures. For two years after his graduation Dr. King was what was known in those days as a country doctor, riding circuits at times, like the lawyer and preacher. Concerning this period of his life he has written a book, called, "Stories of a Country Doctor," which is now in its fourth edition. The stories are reminiscences of his own life in that capacity.
MOVED TO NEVADA.
After his two years of country practice, Dr. King moved to Nevada, where he remained several years. In the latter '80s he moved again and went to Sedalia, Mo., where he remained until he came to Kansas City, over twenty-five years ago.
Dr. King was born in Missouri, his parents, William and Lucy K. King, having been brought to Missouri in their mothers' arms. The family remained on a farm in Vernon county, and Willis King stayed with his parents until he was 14 years of age.
At that time his thirst for knowledge got the better of him, and since there were no schools anywhere near his home he ran away. In order to pay for his education he worked on farms in the summer time and went to school during the winter. When the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad bridge was being built he worked at that and made enough money to put him through another year of school. In 1862 he began to study medicine by himself, and from that time on he gave his life to that profession.
WROTE "PERJURY FOR PAY."
When Dr. King moved to Kansas City he was made a surgeon at the Missouri Pacific hospital, and in 1884 he became the assisting chief surgeon at the institution. He served in that capacity for fifteen years, at the end of which time he retired to private practice. About ten years ago Dr. King contracted blood poison from a needle wound received while performing an operation. From that time until his death his health had been so precarious that he could not give much time to active practice.
Dr. King was a lecturer at the Universities of Missouri and Kansas in the medical departments of each institution. He is the author of many treatises on medical science which have won considerable honor for him in the medical fraternity. Four years ago he wrote his last book, "Perjury for Pay," which has had wide circulation.
On June13, 1861, Dr. King married Miss Albina H. Hoss of Pettis county. From that union six children have been born. They are: Robert Emmett King, Willis P. King, Jr., Mrs. Almeda K. Humphrey, Albert H. King, Granville King and Albina King, who is now dead.
