Gene Notes

Some random and some not-so-random thoughts on family history.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Thriller Thursday - Herbert Percival Revisited -- Again

 I've written before about my Family Mystery - which is to say - what ever happened to Dr. Herbert D. Percival.

Herbert was my dad's great-granduncle, the brother of his great grandfather, John Henry Percival. Born about 1859 in Missouri, Herbert went to live with his uncle Jabez Percival in Covington, Kentucky by the 1870's. His father, John Stearns Percival, Jr., died outside of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1863 while in the 5th Missouri Cavalry (Confederate.)

Herbert, while living with uncle Jabez and Aunt Kate, studied medicine at the Medical College of Ohio - later a part of the University of Cincinnati. He graduated from there in 1883 with his cousin, William Bush Percival.

On June 24, 1884, in Covington, Herbert married miss Catherine "Kate" Gray. The would have one child, a son, Robert Hemingray Percival, who died at the age of two months on August 7, 1885 in Covington. 

Herbert and Kate resided in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where he was licensed by the North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners on February 28, 1887.

From there, Herbert and Kate moved on to California, where in the early to mid 1890's Herbert disappeared off the face of the earth. In 1897, Kate, now a widow, marries her husband's widowed cousin, Dr. William B. Percival.

Recently, FamilySearch.org released an index called the Deceased Physician File. I found Herbert in it, maybe 3 times. At least two of the following records are the same person, and I am on the fence about the H. D. Percival record. However, I do accept the Herbert D. Percivan and Herbert C. Percival are the same people - both graduated the same year from the same school.




He has been my Mystery Man for all my researching days, since I discovered him early on in my research. Family legend he went out to collect fees one evening, was probably waylaid, and the body disposed of never to be seen again. Fact or fiction, I have no idea. I would dearly love to solve this puzzle!

Copyright 2010-2012, ACK for Gene Notes

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