Home > United States of America > Nebraska > York County > York > Greenwood Cemetery > Dr Richard Carscadden

Dr Richard Carscadden

View larger map

1 / 5

2 / 5

3 / 5

4 / 5

5 / 5

❮ ❯

Dr Richard Carscadden

Birth	:	1 Feb 1840 Newcastle, Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Death	:	21 Jul 1890 York, York County, Nebraska, USA
Burial	:	Greenwood Cemetery, York, York County, USA
Coordinate	:	40.8706017, -97.6093979
Description	:	From "Cradle Days in York County" published 1937 PHYSICIAN TO BODIES AND SOULS By Mrs. Pearle Felton One of the early doctors with a country practice was Dr. Richard Carscadden, who came to York in the '70s and remained to mingle medicine and advice. His daughter, Pearle C. Felton, has written an account of his busy career. Dr. Carscadden was born of Irish parents, his mother from county Donegal and his father from county Tyrone, by the Irish sea. They left the green isle in 1839 to settle in Newcastle, Canada, where the future physician was born... Read More	From "Cradle Days in York County" published 1937 PHYSICIAN TO BODIES AND SOULS By Mrs. Pearle Felton One of the early doctors with a country practice was Dr. Richard Carscadden, who came to York in the '70s and remained to mingle medicine and advice. His daughter, Pearle C. Felton, has written an account of his busy career. Dr. Carscadden was born of Irish parents, his mother from county Donegal and his father from county Tyrone, by the Irish sea. They left the green isle in 1839 to settle in Newcastle, Canada, where the future physician was born in 1840. He was graduated at St. Albert's college, Belleville, and then came to the states, to have a year at Ann Arbor college of medicine and to take his degree at Rush Medical and Chicago Medical colleges – getting experience and a bit of money by sleeping on a couch in a Chicago doctor's office. During his practice in a Chicago suburb, Dr. Carscadden met the school teacher, Miss Clara Sedgwick, just out of Wheaton, Ill., college. Following their marriage, the couple lived at De Pere, Wis., for five years. Then came the urge to join the pioneers in this great state of Nebraska. This was in the late '70s and although I was a five-year-old girl, well do I remember the long, long ride on the train. On the evening of the second day we arrived in York. There was no question as to whether we should continue our journey. The Burlington railroad decided that for us as we had reached the end of the road and the next day the train would start east again. Mother's brothers met us at the train. They were Samuel H. Sedgwick, at the time of his death in 1919 a justice of the Nebraska supreme court, and T. E. Sedgwick, an early newspaper man in York, and they had come to the county in the early '70s and were identified prominently with its activities. The brothers were living together in a three-room house, and with the arrival of the Carscaddens, five new members were added. That totaled eleven, but it is easy to make beds for children on the floor. Although my father had thought of leaving the family in York and seeing a little more of Nebraska, he never left York as a residence. The first day here he was called on a typhoid case and as that was a long siege and as new patients continued to call him, he decided York was the place to remain. His first office was in the front room of a building, in which the three back rooms served as our home. We had a parlor, and mother had her marble top table and haircloth sofa with two chairs sent to her. We slept in the bedroom back of the parlor; the dining room and kitchen meant the remaining room. That first Sunday we went to church in the little white frame Methodist church which was the congregation's first building in York, and it still stands on Platte avenue. The family was so pleased to meet others there who had come from "way back east" – Iowa and even Illinois and Wisconsin. The pioneer doctor was not a specialist. He treated all diseases, would sometimes have to do some surgical work, also extract teeth. These were the days of the dreaded diseases of typhoid fever, diphtheria, scarlet fever and tuberculosis. When his patient was seriously ill there was no limit to the length of his visits. He would stay all night and watch with the family for a turn of the crisis. I know of the baby of a widow which was very sick with scarlet fever. Father knew the child could not live and he and mother spent the night at the home and watched the little life ebb away and comforted the mother the best they could. I know of the wife of a farmer in the north part of the county who had tuberculosis and father knew she couldn't live. He told her husband he could not help her and perhaps he had better not make any more visits as it was a long way and the husband could not afford the expense. After talking with his wife the husband told father, "Come just as usual. The cheer and comfort you bring her with your visits helps her so much more than you know." I often went with father in the summer to the country to visit his patients. We did not follow the road. There were no fences and we would cut across the section, driving on the prairie grass over the unbroken sod. But in the winter he had no companion. It seemed that always in the thickest snow storm, when the snow was the deepest and at night, would come a knock at the door and a voice saying, "Doctor, you will have to come out to my house. One of the children is awful sick and we can't wait till morning. I will go ahead of you on horseback and watch for the drifts." Father always kept a soap stone on the back of the stove and it was always nice and warm and ready to go with him on his journey. A buffalo coat, arctic overshoes, a cap with ear flaps and knit mittens, a lantern in the buggy, and his medicine case, which was filled for all emergencies, and away he would go in his top buggy, drawn by a faithful horse. Sometimes the neighbors would hear the doctor was within a few miles and they would send for him to come to other homes in the neighborhood. We had no way of knowing when he would be home and he could get no word to us. How mother would worry! After we had been in Nebraska two or three years father bought three lots four blocks from the business square, had the lumber shipped from Wisconsin and built our home. He planted the trees which are still on the place and his recreation was to take care of the home. He loved fine horses and when it was possible he was at the county fair during the trotting races, out in the quarter stretch. Mother was over at the dining hall where the Ladies' Aid was serving meals to help build the new church. When the telephones came ours was one of the first installed and it was of much interest for the visitors in the doctor's office to try it and call the doctor's wife to have an opportunity to see how the "new fangled thing" really worked. There were thirty of our relatives, the Sedgwicks and Carscaddens, and our Thanksgiving dinners will never be forgotten, and the charades and games afterward. And the Fourth of July celebrations when the folks came from all over the county to the grounds on East Hill – the orations by speakers from other towns, the home-made ice cream, the happy gathering of neighbors cemented these friendships and they are lifelong. Later came the blizzard of 1888 and out of a clear sky of the morning came in the afternoon the blinding snow which was almost impossible to face and caused the loss of lives. Two years after this, in the late winter of 1890, the pioneer doctor was called to Blue Vale, fourteen miles south. The roads were badly drifted and almost impassable but a very sick man was down at that home and the doctor must go. He made twelve calls that day to homes in that part of the county and when he went to bed that night it was to meet his last sickness. Pneumonia was the trouble and he could not do for himself what he had done for others. He is buried in Greenwood cemetery under the Nebraska sod which he loved so well. Contributor: Vicky Wiemer Tracy

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Dr Richard Carscadden's memorial?
Dr Richard Carscadden's memorial is located at: Greenwood Cemetery, York, York County, USA.
When did Dr Richard Carscadden death?
Dr Richard Carscadden death on 21 Jul 1890 in York, York County, Nebraska, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Dr Richard Carscadden's memorial?
Latitude: 40.8706017
Longitude: -97.6093979

Family Members:

Parent

Robert Carscadden

(1805 - 1891)

Elizabeth Freeborn Carscadden

(1807 - 1882)

Spouse

Clara Amanda Sedgwick Carscadden

(1845 - 1918)

Siblings

Alexander Freeborn Carscadden

(1843 - 1914)

Jane Carscadden

(1847 - 1931)

Children

Richard Sedgwick Carscadden

(1877 - 1929)

Sunbeam Carscadden

(1881 - 1884)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Greenwood Cemetery
York, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8706017, -97.6093979

2. Saint Josephs Cemetery
York, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8586006, -97.5599976

3. Bethesda Cemetery
York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8861008, -97.6746979

4. Vernon Cemetery
York, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8291300, -97.5391200

5. Lincoln Creek Cemetery
Bradshaw, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.9305992, -97.6832962

6. Council Cemetery
York, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8434970, -97.7135410

7. Saint Paul Cemetery
York, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.9593220, -97.5579930

8. Rosemond Cemetery
York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.9417000, -97.5211029

9. Waco Cemetery
Waco, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8943000, -97.4658000

10. McCool Junction Cemetery
McCool Junction, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7557983, -97.6063995

11. Zion Cemetery
Thayer, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.9730988, -97.5117035

12. Holoch Cemetery
York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7630997, -97.5207977

13. Gilmore Cemetery
York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7705994, -97.4847031

14. Plainfield Cemetery
Bradshaw, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8856010, -97.7925034

15. Ebenezer Cemetery
Waco, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8595000, -97.4240000

16. Saint Johns Cemetery
Waco, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.8367004, -97.4246979

17. Greenwood Cemetery
McCool Junction, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7282982, -97.6444016

18. Pleasant Hill Cemetery
Benedict, York County, USA
Coordinate: 41.0155983, -97.6539001

19. Pleasant Ridge Cemetery
McCool Junction, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7271996, -97.5511017

20. Mennonite Cemetery
Lushton, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7560997, -97.7391968

21. Bethesda Cemetery
Henderson, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7997017, -97.7964020

22. Blue Valley Cemetery
York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.7571983, -97.4535980

23. Bethel Cemetery
Thayer, York County, USA
Coordinate: 41.0328000, -97.5404000

24. Brabham Family Cemetery
Arborville, York County, USA
Coordinate: 40.9665000, -97.7988000