Cowlitz County WA Archives Biographies.....Windham, M. D., Robert Edward September 13, 1890 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 22, 2009, 4:56 pm Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 57-58 Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company The city of Longview, Washington, has just reason for pride in the ability and character of the personnel of its professions, and among those who have won the public confidence to a marked degree stands Dr. Robert E. Windham, who enjoys a wide reputation for his success in combatting human disease. He was born in Merryville, Beauregard parish, Louisiana, on the 13th of September, 1890, a son of Augustus Perry and Mary Elizabeth (Frazar) Windham. Augustus P. Windham, who is of English and Irish ancestry, was born near Montgomery, Alabama, September 15, 1860, and is a son of William Moses and Sarah (Lee) Windham, the latter of whom was a first cousin of General Robert E. Lee. William M. Windham, who owned a large plantation near Montgomery, was an officer in the Confederate army during the Civil war. A. P. Windham was a school teacher for twenty-five years, serving as superintendent of schools at Singer, Mystic and other towns in Louisiana, but is now retired and lives at Merryville, that state, of which place he was post¬master for twelve years and also served as assessor. His wife was born at Dry Creek, Louisiana, in 1870, of Scotch ancestry, and her father, Moses Cook Frazar, was a veteran of the Mexican war, taking part in the engagement at the Alamo, and of the Civil war, serving in the Confederate army. Robert E. Windham attended the public schools and was graduated from the high school at Merryville, Louisiana, after which he attended Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. Having determined to devote his life to the healing art, he matriculated in the medical school of Tulane University at New Orleans, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1916, after which he served one year as interne in the Charity Hospital in New Orleans. On May 6, 1917, Dr. Windham enlisted in the United States Medical Corps, was commissioned a first lieutenant, and was sent to the base hospital at Camp Shelby, at Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He remained there thirteen months, during which time he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in charge of the department of eye, ear, nose and throat troubles. From there he was transferred to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was promoted to major, and in October, 1918, was sent overseas. He became commanding officer of Evacuation Hospital No. 39, at Brest, France, also having personal charge of the eye, ear, nose and throat department. Soon after the signing of the armistice he returned home and was honorably discharged at Chattanooga, January 4, 1919, with the rank of major. On his return to civil life, Dr. Windham opened an office at Fullerton, Louisiana, and engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery, and also served as chief surgeon for the Gulf Lumber Company and local surgeon for the Kansas City Southern and the Lake Charles Northern Railroads. In 1922 Dr. Windham took postgraduate work at Tulane University, giving special attention to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and in 1923 he came to Longview, Washington, where he has since been engaged in professional work, mainly as a specialist. He has met with notable success and has built up a large practice, covering a wide radius of surrounding country. On August 19, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dr. Windham was united in marriage to Miss Florence Gladys Bowman, a native of Moundsville, West Virginia; and a daughter of Edward P. and Mary Elizabeth (Reynolds) Bowman, both of whom are of English descent and were born in West Virginia, the father in 1853 and the mother in 1858. Mr. Bowman followed farming for many years and was prominent in public affairs, having served as sheriff of Marshall county and as a member of the state legislature. He and his wife are now living at Proctor, Wetzel county, West Virginia. Mrs. Windham was graduated in nursing from the Southside Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and went overseas with Base Hospital No. 42, which was located at Chaumont. Later she was with Evacuation Hospital No. 21 at Souilly, and saw active service under fire in advanced dressing stations during the St. Mihiel drive and the Argonne offensive. She was in Paris during the air raids there and her hospital section was twice bombed. Dr. and Mrs. Windham are the parents of a daughter, Gladys Elizabeth, born July 18, 1926. In his political views Dr. Windham is a stanch democrat and while living in Fullerton, Louisiana, served as a member of the city council and the school board and was county health officer. He is a member of the Cowlitz County Medical Society, the Washington State Medical Society, the Oregon Academy of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists, the Pacific Coast Society of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists, the American Academy of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Specialists and the American College of Surgeons. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. The Doctor has devoted his attention closely to his professional labors, is sincere and conscientious in his efforts to relieve human physical distress and possesses the happy faculty of being able to inspire confidence on the part of his patients. Kindly and sympathetic and possessing an attractive personality, he has won many warm and loyal friends throughout this locality and commands the unqualified respect of all who know him. 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