Alexander O. Fasser, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 253-254 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ALEXANDER O. FASSER, M. D.  

	Although Dr. Alexander O. Fasser, of Belle Fourche, engages to 
some extent in the general practice of medicine he gives the greater 
part of his attention to surgery and is already recognized as one of 
the leading surgeons of his part of the state. His birth occurred at 
Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, October 9, 1878. His parents, Leonard and 
Mary Fasser, were both born in the same country, where the father was 
employed as an engineer in a gas works upon reaching years of maturity. 
In 1880 Mr. and Mrs. Fasser came with their family to America and 
settled at New Haven, Connecticut, where the father was a stationary 
engineer until 1913, when be retired. Both he and his wife still live 
in that city. He served with distinction in the Franco-Prussian war and 
while at the front was wounded in the leg by a cannon ball. However, he 
fought throughout the whole war and displayed such marked gallantry 
that he was awarded the iron cross and also bronze, silver and gold 
medals. As a further testimonial to his bravery he has an autographed 
letter from Emperor William I. To him and his wife were born seven 
children, of whom the, subject of this review is the fourth in order of 
birth. 

	Dr. Andrew O. Fasser attended the public schools of New Haven, 
Connecticut, and after being engaged as a pharmacist there for eight 
years he prepared for Yale University at the Hopkins grammar school and 
later entered Yale Medical School, from which he was graduated with the 
degree of M. D. in 1905. His connection with the drug business began 
when he was fifteen years of age, when he found employment in a drug 
store in connection with the New Haven Hospital. He learned the 
business thoroughly and at the age of eighteen was licensed as a 
pharmacist in Connecticut. He left the New Haven Hospital at that time 
and for three or four years worked in the wholesale drug house of the 
C. W. Wittlesey Company, a New Haven concern. He then entered the 
employ of William Hull, a retail druggist of New Haven, and remained 
with him for four years, after which he again entered school, as before 
stated. After graduating from Yale Medical School in 1905 he was 
appointed house surgeon of the New Haven Hospital and served in that 
capacity for twenty-two months and then was for six months connected 
with the Lying-In Hospital of New York and subsequently was house 
officer for two seasons at the Boston Floating Hospital. He then 
returned to New Haven and practiced medicine for six months, at the end 
of which time he was seized with the western fever and removed to the 
Black Hills, practicing for two years in Sturgis. At the end of that 
time he settled in Vale, where he remained for two years and then 
removed to Belle Fourche, arriving there in 1909. In the years that 
have since come and gone he has built up an enviable reputation, 
especially as a surgeon. He is intensely interested in the development 
of modern surgery and the wonderful discoveries along that line which 
are constantly being made and which open up new possibilities in the 
restoration of health and the saving of life. He not only keeps in 
touch with the results of the experiments of investigators in the field 
of surgery but is also scrupulously conscientious in the care of his 
patients, giving them the benefit of his closest attention and best 
knowledge. Dr. Fasser has thoroughly identified himself with the Black 
Hills country and owns a stock ranch five miles south of Vale, which he 
devotes to the raising of sheep and hogs. It comprises three hundred 
and twenty acres and is well irrigated.  

	Dr. Fasser was married on the 1st of June, 1911, to Miss Inez 
Goddard, who was born near Hot Springs, this state, a daughter of Lon 
and Inez (Moses) Goddard, both natives of Texas. They were among the 
early settlers in Dakota territory and the father served in the first 
territorial legislature and also held various other offices of trust 
and responsibility. He passed away at Hot Springs following an 
operation for appendicitis and his widow now resides with Dr. and Mrs. 
Fasser.  

	The Doctor is independent politically, his religious affiliation 
is that of the Protestant Episcopal church and he is a member of the 
Masonic order. Along professional lines he belongs to the Black Hills 
Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is a man of 
that progressive and energetic type that is so rapidly building up the 
state of South Dakota along all lines and is recognized as one of the 
valued and useful citizens of Belle Fourche.