Charles S. O'Toole, M. D. Biography


	This biography appears on pages 121-122 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CHARLES S. O'TOOLE, M. D.  

	Dr. Charles S. O'Toole, of Watertown, is well known in 
professional circles throughout northeastern South Dakota and is 
generally recognized as a progressive and able physician and surgeon. 
He was born in Humboldt county, Iowa, on the 5th of May, 1870, a son of 
Patrick and Catherine (Toole) O'Toole, both natives of Ireland. They 
grew to maturity in the Emerald Isle and, convinced that better 
opportunities for advancement were to be found in this country, they 
crossed the Atlantic and located in Pennsylvania. Their marriage 
occurred in the Keystone state and the father was for many years 
employed in the rolling mills of Pittsburg and, as wages were unusually 
high at that time and as he was a skilled workman, he earned from eight 
to ten dollars per day. In 1860 he removed to Iowa With his family and 
there followed farming. Both he and his wife passed away in that state, 
he surviving to the advanced age of eighty-six years. He was very 
successful as a farmer and became a large landowner.  

	Dr. Charles S. O'Toole remained at home during his boyhood and 
youth and a great deal of his time was taken up in acquiring an 
education. He also aided his father in the work of the farm and thus 
received valuable training in manual labor which supplemented admirably 
the knowledge of books gained in the schools. He attended the public 
and high schools of Estherville and Charles City, Iowa, and while a 
high school student in the latter place worked in a drug store, thus 
paying a considerable part of his expenses. He subsequently entered a 
pharmaceutical college in Des Moines, from which he was graduated in 
1893. For a time he taught school and worked as a pharmacist, but in 
1895 he began the study of medicine, entering the Illinois Medical 
College in Chicago. He took a three years, course there and completed a 
two years, course at the Barnes Medical College at St. Louis, from 
which he was graduated with the class of 1900. He first opened an 
office for practice in Wessington Springs, South Dakota, but two or 
three months after his arrival here the town burned down and he then 
removed to Vienna, where he resided until 1914 and where he built up an 
extensive and remunerative practice. In October of that year he left 
Vienna and, after two months devoted to post-graduate work, located in 
Watertown where, by invitation of the board of directors of the new 
Luther Hospital, he became one of the surgeons on the staff of that 
institution. He is a member of the Watertown District Medical Society, 
of the Sioux Valley Medical Society, the South Dakota State Medical 
Society and the American Medical Association and finds these 
connections invaluable as a means of keeping abreast of the discoveries 
that are being made in the field of medical research and of acquainting 
himself with the improved methods devised by the capable practitioners 
of the country.  

	Dr. O'Toole was married in 1902 to Miss Blanche F. Parks, 
daughter of R. M. Parks, of Sioux City, Iowa. They have become the 
parents of two children: Charles, aged eleven and Lovenia, aged six. 
The family are devout communicants of the Catholic church. He is a 
member of several fraternal organizations, but is not active in their 
work. He finds his greatest interest in his professional labor and 
concentrates his energies upon the broadening of his professional 
knowledge and the increasing of his efficiency as a physician and 
surgeon. His constant study and professional zeal have made him one of 
the leading physicians and surgeons of the northeastern part of the 
state and have gained him a steadily increasing practice. He adheres 
closely to high standards of professional ethics and his life as a man 
and citizen is also above reproach.