Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Peairs, George M, M D ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 9:42 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County GEORGE M. PEAIRS, M. D., of Joliet, is secretary of the Will County Medical Society and, since June, 1897, secretary of the board of pension examiners, in both of which he has been a leading member. In 1894 he was appointed by the Illinois Steel Company as their surgeon in Joliet and has since acted in this capacity. He is also surgeon for the Chicago, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad and assistant surgeon for the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad, and attending physician and surgeon at St. Joseph's hospital. Among the residents of Joliet his skill as a physician is recognized and he is given a high place in the medical fraternity of the city. He has his office in the Barber building and gives his attention very closely to professional work. To keep in touch with every development in the medical science has been his aim, and for this reason he has been a constant student of the profession. In the spring of 1899 he took a course in bacteriology and pathology under Professor Klebs in the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical College, and each winter he takes a course in surgery under that eminent surgeon, Dr. Seun. The Peairs family is of English and Welsh descent. Henry Peairs, a native of New England, engaged in farming in Pennsylvania and from there removed to Ohio, settling on a farm at Duncan's Falls, near Zanesville, where he died at eighty-nine years of age. His wife, whose family name was Robinson, died at the age of eighty-seven. Their son, H. R., a native of Ohio, graduated from Washington College, Pittsburg, and entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church. While he was holding a pastorate at Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio, his son, George M., was born December 18, 1866. Later he was stationed at Harrison, Ohio. In 1871 he accepted a call to Heyworth, McLean County, Ill., where he remained for ten years, and afterward was for four years at Normal, in the same county. Next he went to Clayton, Adams County, Ill., where ill health forced him to relinquish ministerial work. He returned to Normal, Ill., where he died in 1895. His wife, who was Sarah A. Hope, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., and is now living in Normal, Ill. She was a daughter of Edward Hope, a contractor in Pittsburg. The family of Rev. H. R. and Sarah A. Peairs numbered six children, of whom four are living, Mary, George M., Harry J. and Ralph. The oldest son, who forms the subject of this sketch, was reared in Illinois and received his education in the Heyworth and Normal schools, preparing for college in the high school department of the Illinois University at Normal. However, instead of entering college, he at once turned his attention to the study of medicine, reading with Dr. J. N. Black, of Clayton, Ill. In 1888 he entered Rush Medical College, from which he graduated in 1891, with the degree of M. D. While there he took special courses in gynecology and diseases of the eye. In 1891 he accepted an appointment as surgeon in the Illinois Steel Company's hospital at South Chicago. The following year he removed to Morris, Ill., where he remained for two years, meantime holding the office of county physician. Since 1894 he has engaged in practice in Joliet. He is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and the International Association of Railway Surgeons, and attended the convention of the latter organization in Richmond in 1899. While he is not active in politics he has a thorough knowledge of national issues and affiliates with the Republican party. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias of Joliet, and Cedar Lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Morris. December 10, 1894, Dr. Peairs married Miss Jessie Hayes, who was born in Ohio and is a graduate of the Oberlin conservatory of music. Her father, Gen. P. C. Hayes, a journalist of great brilliancy, held the rank of general during the Civil war and won lustre through his skilled leadership of Union forces. Afterward coming to Illinois he held the position of editor of the Morris Herald and later was at the head of the Joliet Republican, but is now living in retirement in this city. He has been prominent in the Loyal Legion. Dr. and Mrs. Peairs are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Joliet and are prominent in the city's best society. They are the parents of one child living, Muriel Lucile. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/peairs1095gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb