Dr. Silas Shruggs Stacey

Meet Dr. Silas Shruggs Stacey. Located at Jasper Cemetery in Jasper, AR.

Dr. S.S. Stacey

Born

Jan 20, 1828

Died

July 27, 1915

Here is a neat story about S. S. Stacey that I discovered while researching him. This story made me want to do a little more digging. In my digging I discovered an ancestor of Dr.Stacey's. I emailed her and had the pleasure of discussing this interesting fellow with Carol Clouse. She says he is her "2nd great-grandfather and her favorite Ancestor".  Here is some information and some photos she sent to me.

According to Caorl,

"Silas studied under other Physicians but he was also an Herb Dr. supposedly learned from his old Indian mother. Genealogical research has determined his mother was Rebecca Griffith Stacey who's father Jonas Griffith is Welch so maybe his wife was the Indian? Not proven."

According to the linked story above  Dr. Stacey received most of his medical training while in the military but never received a diploma. But that didn't stop him from opening his own medical practice. Where he used the training from the military physicians and his inherited herbal knowledge to operate a rather lucrative medical practice.

Carol also said:

"Dr S.S. Stacey was somewhat famous, as late as 1963 he was written about in a lengthy poem in southern, MO. Mention of him appears in 3 more books, "Let Us Build A City" by Donald Harrington. "The White River Chronicles of S. C. Turnbo"  and "Land of Taney" by Elmo Ingenthron."

The first photo on this entry is one of only two known photographs of him. This particular one, appearing on his tombstone, is originally from the book Indians of the Ozarks Plateau By Elmo Ingenthron. The only difference is the photo in the book and this one is that the book photo is a full body photograph. I will assume the full body one has been cropped to fit the ceramic plate.

This is the second known photo of him. This photo was given to Carol in the 1960's by Walter Lackey, who started the Newton County, AR Historical Society.

Here is the information Carol passed along with this photo:

"He is the man with the black beard and the woman on right is his wife Bette Morgan, the woman on her right is her mother. Picture was taken about 1896-8. His wife was Post Mistress at that time and town was called Wilcockson, it later became Marble City, it was just a little ways on Highway seven before you get to Jasper. It later became a Tourist attraction called Dog Patch, it went bankrupt and now is gone. According to Donald Harrington's book, "Let Us Build a City" Dr. Silas laid out the town."

On a side note: Dog Patch USA once was a small theme park in Newton county Arkansas but is now abandoned. You can still drive past and see it from the highway.  Reminds me of a ghost town you see in an old Western movie.  Here are a few links if you want information about it.
Wikipedia
What Dog Patch Has become.

Another photo Carol sent me. This is what the town of Marble Falls, AR looked like during Dr. Stacey's time. (This photo was also given to Carol by Walter Lackey.)

According to Carol Marble Falls was reported to have been laid out By Dr Stacey.

As an end note: I want to send out a HUGE Thank You to Caorl Clouse for all the information and time she gave me for this entry. I really enjoy getting to chat with relatives of  my blog post subjects.  It always amazes me how many people love to tell tales about their family members they never had the chance to meet. It really breaths life back into the individuals they speak about.