J. B. Ponder, M. D., Calhoun County, AR

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SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
Contributed by Carol Smith.
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Calhoun County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas

J. B. Ponder, M. D., the well-known physician and surgeon of Locust Bayou post-office, River Township, Calhoun County, is a native of
Georgia, born in Oglethorpe County, April 4, 1820, the fifth child born to James H. and Elizabeth Ponder, natives of Georgia, who moved to
Arkansas in 1840, settling in Ouachita County, where they resided until their death in 1855 and 1854, respectively. The subject of this sketch
was principally reared in Montgomery County, Alabama, and came to Arkansas with his parents. He received his education in Alabama, and at
the age of eighteen entered New Orleans Medical College and graduated from there at the end of two years. He then returned to Ouachita
County, Arkansas and began the practice of his profession, and here he continued to practice until the breaking out of the war. In 1861, he went
from Ouachita County to Frederkisburg, Virginia, and in the latter part of 1861 was detailed as surgeon at the batteries on the Potomac, where he
remained until the spring of 1862, where he participated in the battle of Shiloh for two days (April 6 and 7). After this battle he received a
discharge and returned to his home in Ouachita County. In July, 1862, he received an appointment as an enrolling officer, in which capacity he
served until the first part of 1863, when he resigned the position. He then resumed the practice of his profession in Camden, Arkansas, until the
winter of 1865, at which time he moved to Smithland, in Columbia County, Arkansas, where he practiced medicine until the fall of 1867. From
Smithland he moved to Calhoun County, and located permanently at this latter place. He owns a fine farm of 160 acres, with about six acres
under cultivation. The Doctor was married July 15, 1864 wedding Miss Susan Webb, daughter of John and Elena Webb, natives of Georgia, who
moved to Arkansas in 1856, settling in Camden, Ouachita County, where they resided for some time. Dr. Ponder is a member of the Masonic
fraternity (which he joined in 1844) also of the Farmers' Union since 1888. He does not take an active interest in politics, but is a staunch
Democrat and takes a deep interest in the public welfare. He is a good physician and enjoys a large and lucrative practice, as his father, who was
one of the first physicians in Camden, Arkansas and practiced there for many years, did before him.