Thomas B. Tooke, Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller

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Thomas B. Tooke, M.D. Not only is Dr. Thomas B. Tooke, of Belcher, one of the able representatives of the medical profession of Caddo Parish, but he is also extensively connected with some of the large interests of this region, and has been instrumental in developing natural resources and public utilities.  He is a man of broad vision and untiring energy, and his community and parish owe much to him and his constructive movements.  He was born at Mount Lebanon, Bienville Parish, Louisiana, on September 24, 1882.

Doctor Tooke is a son of J. W. and Sallie (Bell) Tooke, the former of whom was one of the best and most favorably known men of Bienville Parish and Northern Louisiana.  For twenty-five years he was clerk of the court for Bienville Parish, during which the he resided at Arcadia, the county seat.  The Tookes came originally from Georgia to Louisiana, their migration having taken place at a very early date.

Growing up at Arcadia, Doctor Tooke received his early educational training in that community, to which his parents had removed during his childhood.  However, his education was nut limited to its advantages, for he received an extended and liberal one, supplementing his primary instruction with a Course at Soulé's Business College, New Orleans, Louisiana.  His medical training was taken at the University of Nashville, Tennessee, from which he was graduated, in 1909, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.  Subsequent to this he had hospital work in Birmingham, Alabama, and Greensboro, North Carolina, and still later he took post-graduate work in the New York Post-Graduate Hospital.

In 1910 Doctor Tooke began the practice of his Profession at Gilliam, Caddo Parish, and remained there until 1916, when he came to Belcher, the center of one of the richest and most progressive agricultural communities in the South.  In addition to the large general practice which he has built up, Doctor Tooke has business interests in Belcher as owner of the telephone system and natural gas supply, which he operates under the name of the Belcher Telephone and Gas Company.

Doctor Tooke is a member of the Caddo Parish Medical Society, the Southern Medical Society and the American Medical Association.  A very active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he is one of the local stewards, and for many years has been superintendent of the Sunday school of this denomination at Belcher.  In all of these and in many other ways Doctor Tooke is rendering an effective service, and is recognized as one of the best citizens of the parish.

The marriage of Doctor Tooke with Miss Mary Agnes Berry took place at Johnson City, Tennessee, of which city Mrs. Tooke is a native.  Doctor and Mrs. Tooke have two children:  Thomas B., Jr.,  and Gladys.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), p. 285, by Henry E. Chambers.  Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.