Biography of Stephen T. Bird, D.D.S.

STEPHEN T. BIRD, D. D. S., a prominent and popular
Princeton dentist, has been in the practice of his profession
there for over ten years, though for two years of this time
he was absent on army duty. Few men attached to the
Expeditionary Forces saw and participated in more strenu-
ous scenes along the battle front than Doctor Bird.

He was born at Athens in Mercer County, July 8, 1883,
and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry and of Old Virginia stock.
His parents, J. S. H. and Elizabeth S. (Vermillion) Bird,
were both born in Virginia. His father was a farmer, and
in the Civil war became a Confederate soldier in a Vir-
ginia regiment under the command of General Breckenridge.
He served until captured, and then remained at Fortress
Monroe until the close of the war. After taking the oath
of allegiance he returned home and resumed his work as a
civilian on the farm. He kept in close touch with public
affairs, for many years served on the school board, and
was an active member of the Baptist Church.

Stephen T. Bird acquired a common school education at
Athens, and supplemented this by attending the State Nor-
mal College there, graduating in 1904. The next two years
he was a clerk for the Borderland Coal & Coke Company
and the Thacker Coal & Coke Company, and in 1906 he be-
gan the study of dental surgery at Central University of
Kentucky at Louisville, spending his vacations again in the
service of the coal and coke companies. He graduated in
1909, and after one year of practice at Bluefield estab-
lished his home and office at Princeton, in 1910, and has
since achieved a splendid reputation for proficiency in his
chosen calling.

His war record is one deserving special attention. Prob-
ably no man in West Virginia knows more of the realities
of modern warfare than Doctor Bird. June 10, 1917, he re-
ceived a commission as first lieutenant in the Dental Corps,
but as a matter of fact he performed the duties of a dentist
only while in the rest areas in France, and while on front
line duty he was exposed to all the dangers and performed
all the services required of regular physicians and surgeons
at the battle front, chiefly in first aid. July 14, 1917, Doc-
tor Bird was called to duty, being sent to Washington, D. C.,
and assigned to the Sixth United States Engineers of the
Third Division. November 3rd he received orders for over-
seas duty and sailed December 3, 1917, arriving at St.
Nazaire, France, December 24, 1917. He was with the
Sixth Engineers in the Haute Marne sector on construction
work for a month, and his regiment was then put on the
British front on the Somme Biver with the Fourth British
Army Division. Here it was that Doctor Bird had his first
experience at the front giving first aid to the wounded, and
for days was under constant fire. He continued with the
British command until June 5, 1918, and then returned to
the Marne and was assigned to the French Third Army
Corps, and finally the Sixth Engineers were restored to their
place in the Third American Army. On July 15, 1918, be-
gan the big battle as the Aisne-Marne defensive, when for
three successive days the Germans made their last great
effort to break through. The critical day was July 18th,
and from then until August 14th the battle became known
and was properly described as the Aisne-Marne offensive of
the allies. All this time Doctor Bird was at the front, and
the sights and scenes in which he participated are to him
like a maze of horror, and yet they present an accurate
picture of the realities of war. After the offensive Doctor
Bird and his command were put in the rest area at Gondre
Cour until September 4, 1918, were then moved over to the
St. Mihiel sector and after three days participated in the
Meuse-Argonne phase, there relieving the Seventy-ninth
Division on September 29, 1918. Doctor Bird was in the
Argonne fighting until October 1st, and was then returned
to the rest area at Barleduc, where they remained until the
signing of the armistice, November 11th. During the Ar-
gonne action Doctor Bird was wounded and for eleven days
was in a hospital. A few days after the armistice was
signed the Third Division started on its long hike into Ger-
many and Doctor Bird was on the march from about No-
vember 15, 1918, to Christmas, when they reached their
destination at Ochtendung. Here he remained until April
21, 1919, when he received an order to join the Thirty-sec-
ond Division for home, and he went to Brest with the Second
Battalion of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Infantry,
sailed out of Brest May 3rd, arrived at Hoboken May 9th,
and after a week in Camp Mills went to Camp Meade,
where he received his honorable discharge and returned to
Princeton. During the war Doctor Bird participated in
field duty during five major operations of the allied armies.

Doctor Bird is unmarried, is a member of the Missionary
Baptist Church, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Ma-
son and Shriner, a member of the American Legion, a char-
ter member of the Princeton Country Club, and profes-
sionally is affiliated with the State and American Dental
Societies, and the Mercer, Mingo and McDowell Counties
Dental Society.


From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, page 40-41

Submitted by Valerie F. Crook <vfcrook@trellis.net>

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