READ, (Dr.) Henry O., Avoyelles then St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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DR. HENRY O. READ, CHATAIGNIER.--Dr. Read is a native of Avoyelles
parish, born in 1833.  He is the son of Stephen D. and Elizabeth
(Simmons) Read.  Dr. Read is one of a family of nine children, of whom
only himself and Stephen D. Read, Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial
District, are living.

The Doctor received his early education in the schools of St. Landry
parish.  He began the study of medicine in 1851, under Dr. C. T. Putnam,
lately deceased.  He matriculated in the University of Louisiana in
1852, graduating and receiving his degree in 1854.  He is one of the
oldest graduates of the university now living.  Dr. Read first began
practising [sic] the year succeeding his graduation, at Morgan City,
where he remained some years, when he removed to Abbeville.  In 1863 he
enlisted in the Louisiana State troops as surgeon, in which capacity he
served one year.  Prior to this time, in 1860, he married Miss Mary E.
Gueignom, of Lafayette, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Gueignom.  Mrs.
Gueignom is a half sister to Judge Bell, who served in Congress from
1866 to 1870.  To them have been born four sons:  Henry E.,  Sallust G., 
William A. and  Francis S.  In 1867, while the Doctor was practising in
Abbeville as a partner with Dr. White, he treated the first case of
yellow fever in the State in that memorable year.  By constant vigilance
he succeeded in confining the disease to this one patient.

The Doctor was twice elected mayor of Abbeville.  He now operates, in
connection with his practice, a plantation of about two hundred and
forty acres.  In Cameron parish he has a plantation upon which is
situated one of the finest residences in that vicinity.  Dr. Read has
been until within the past ten months a regular contributor to the New
Orleans Medical Journal, and many of his articles are of value to the
profession.  The Doctor's age and state of health renders a very
extensive practice impractical, and he confines his practice to a select
number of families in his community.

Southwest Louisiana Biographical and Historical, Biographical Section,
pp. 70-71.  Edited by William Henry Perrin.  Published in 1891, by The
Gulf Publishing Company.