St Mary-Madison County Louisiana Archives Biographies.....Tarleton, Thomas Wyatt December 3, 1848 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: John Tarleton johntarleton@msn.com February 15, 2009, 9:39 pm Author: John Garrard Tarleton Bio of :THOMAS WYATT TARLETON Submited By: John Garrard Tarleton Excerpt from: Louisiana: Supplementary Volume of Contemporary Biographies, Volume III, Biographical, Edited by Alcee Fortier, Lit. D., Professor of Romance Languages, Tulane University Published by the Southern Historical Association, Atlanta, 1909 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.org/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Thomas Wyatt Tarleton, M.D., a well known and popular physician of Patterson, La., was born on a plantation in Madison Parish La., Dec. 3, 1848, a son of Leo and Augusta (Hawkins) Tarleton, the former born in 1794 and the latter in 1810. His paternal ancestors were English, some of them having been among the followers and supporters of Oliver Cromwell when the great Protector freed the common people from the intolerable oppression imposed on them by an unreasonable monarch. The earliest record of the Tarleton family was about the time of Lord Baltimore's colonization of Maryland, when some of the name came from England and settled in that colony, and from these early immigrants have sprung the various branches of the family now living in probably a dozen of the states of the American Union. Several of Dr. Tarleton's paternal ancestors participated in the Revolutionary war, notably Gen. Tarleton, who figures conspicuously in the history of that period. They also took an active part in the War of 1812, and in the war between the states (1861-65) there were Tarletons in both the Federal and Confederate armies, Dr. Tarleton's only brother, Leo Tarleton, Jr., now a prominent attorney of San Antonio, Tex., having enlisted in the army of the South when he was scarcely sixteen years old and fought valiantly for the Stars and Bars until that flag was forever furled at historic Appomattox. On the maternal side of Dr. Tarleton's ancestors were Huguenots, who left France in 1685 an d went to England, where they became loyal subjects of the crown. In 1744 they came to America and soon became prominent in public affairs. James Garrard, Dr. Tarleton's maternal grandfather, was governor of Kentucky for two successive terms, and in his day and generation was looked upon as a citizen of great worth and ability. In the Civil war Gen. Theophilus Garrard , a cousin of Dr. Tarleton's grandmother, commanded a division in the 13th army corps under Maj. Gen. W.B. Franklin in the Federal army, and there were many of the family relatives in both the Northern and Southern armies. Dr. Tarleton's father came to Louisiana in the early 40 s but did not remain in the state. Just prior to the Civil war he came to the state a second time and invested largely in sugar plantations and slaves in St. Marys parish. The war came on and swept away everything, so that from affluence the family was plunged into utter poverty through the emancipation of the negroes and the destruction of property. His father died in 1866, and his mother, with her two sons and two daughters, left Louisiana and went to Union county, Ill., where it developed upon the two brothers to face the changed conditions and endeavor to support their widowed mother and sisters. It was here that Dr. Tarleton began t he study of medicine, employing every possible moment that he could spare from the care of the farm on which they lived. In 1872 he attended Popes college in Missouri for one term, and in 1874 he was graduated at the Louisville Medical College with the degree of M.D. Soon after graduating, he located at Patterson, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession and has gained a large patronage. Although more than thirty years have elapsed since he left college, Dr. Tarleton has not permitted himself to fall behind in the advancement made in the science of medicine. He is a close observer of new remedies and new appliances, but at the same time he knows how to be conservative without being non-progressive, and is never in a hurry to forsake the field of true and tried methods for the realm of experiment. In the treatment of yellow fever patients he has made an extraordinary record in several epidemics. In 1905 he was called upon to treat 182 cases, and of these but three died. Politically he is an unswerving supporter of Democratic principles and has always been active in the interests of his party, though the only office he has ever filled were in line of his profession, having served as coroner of St. Mary's parish and from 1904 to 1908 was the parish health officer. He is a member of the State Medical association, etc., is a member and past master of Lafayette Lodge, No. 87, Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs to the Episcopal church. Dr. Tarleton has been married three times. On Nov. 15, 1877, he married Miss Lucretia Fleurot, daughter of Capt. Oscar and Mary (Robbins) Fleurot of Patterson, and to this union was born one son, Henry Sanders Tarleton, who died at the age of twenty-one years. His first wife died eleven months after their marriage, and on Nov. 18, 1879, Dr. Tarleton married Miss Arvilla Muggah, daughter of David and Katherine (Wadsworth) Muggah, who lived about six years and bore him one daughter, Clara, now the wife of Dr. J.W. Boudier of Patterson. Dr. Tarleton's third wife, to whom he was united on March 21, 1888, was Miss Louise Wilson, daughter of Capt. George T. and Margaret (Hartman) Wilson. This union has been blessed by the following children, viz: Wilson W., Elizabeth, Grace D. and Holly B. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From old issues of St Mary Links : Vol 2, no. 2/Summer 1986: Article on Yellow Fever mentions Dr. Tarlton (or Tarleton) as one of several men appointed to an auxiliary committee to assist the town's (Franklin) board of health. Vol 2, no. 3/Fall 1986: Extract from The Vindicator News, 12 Oct. 1900, says "Dr Tarleton of Jeanerette, Louisiana is visiting this week at the home of\ Mr. L. B. Tarleton. Same issue gives sections of a book, "St Mary Parish - 1898", which lists Physicians in Patterson as Drs. T.W.Tarleton, W.G. Roussell and F.R. Welch. Vol 2 , no. 4/Winter 1986: Continuation of same book lists L.B. Tarlton as Mayor of Franklin. (Dr Tarleton's brother). Vol 3, no. 2/Summer 1987: T.W. Tarleton was a witness at the marriage of William M Riggs and Nina (Uina) M. Grout on July 11, 1901. Vol 3, no. 4/ W inter 1987: In an excerpt from the St Mary Optic, Sept 18, 1897, Dr T.W. Tarlton among others was appointed to the Quarantine Committee (again, having to do with yellow fever). Vol 4 , no. 3/Fall 1988: Dr Tarleton is mentioned as the attending physician for these mortalities : William Stanley, Henry Roberson, Eva Heydell, William Ager, Georgie Haydel, Mary Robertson , Euphemie Ager, Phillis Ray, John Vitter, Lillian Moore, George Elmore and John P Olivier . Vol 4, no. 4/Winter 1988: Lists Dr T.W. Tarleton as a member of the Masons, Lafayette Lodge No. 87, Patterson. Vol 13, no. 2/Summer 1997 & Vol 13, no 4/Winter 1997: A Dr. John Tarlton is mentioned File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/stmary/bios/tarleton153gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb