WILLIAM W. HUME, M. D.

The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc.,
Chicago and New York, Volume III,
pg. 364-365

WILLIAM W. HUME, M. D. A physician who began his work-
in Raleigh County twenty years ago, Doctor Hume in recent
years has withdrawn from general practice and is now
a widely known and acknowledged specialist in eye, ear,
nose and throat diseases at Beckley, and in that field rep-
resents some of the highest abilities available in this section
of the state.

Doctor Hume was born in Orange County, Virginia, Sep-
tember 21, 1866. He represents a long line of Virginia
ancestors, the first of the name coming to this country in
1617. Another branch of the family included the famous
Scotch historian and philosopher, David Hume. The par-
ents of Doctor Hume were Dr. Charles E. and Mary E.
(Thompson) Hume, natives of Virginia. His father made
for himself a place of prominence in his profession. He
waa in the Confederate army during the Civil war, and
he treated both Union and Confederate soldiers in his pro-
fessional capacity.  His home was in the path of both
armies, and the soldiers took everything valuable from the
place. After the war Dr. Charles Hume settled in Cul-
peper County, and he and his wife are now deceased.

William W. Hume acquired his early education in the
common schools of Culpeper County, and he had to de-
pend on himself for his higher education. For seven years
he was engaged in the drug business at Hinton, West Vir-
ginia, and left there to begin the study of medicine in the
University of Virginia at Charlottesville, where he gradu-
ated M. D. in 1901. For four years he did a general country
practice in Raleigh County, and then moved to Beckley,
and a few years later he began his preparation for his
special line of work. During 1914 Doctor Hume was a
student of diseases of the nose and throat in the Philadel-
phia Polyclinic, and took eye and ear courses in the Wills
Eye Hospital at Philadelphia. After his return to Beck-
ley he limited his practice to eye, ear, nose and throat.
During the war he was a member of the Examining Board.
Doctor Hume now has associated with him in practice
Dr. J. H. Hoskins, a nephew of Mrs. Hume.

Doctor Hoskins was born April 22, 1892, in Essex County,
Virginia, son of W. D. and Ella Hoskins, and during the
World war he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Med-
ical Corps, April 10, 1918. He was on duty three weeks
at Port Oglethorpe, Georgia, and then transferred to the
Base Hospital at Camp Raritan, Metuchen, New Jersey,
whore he received his honorable discharge January 20,
1919. Doctor Hume and Doctor Hoskins are both mem-
bers of the surgical staff of the Kings Daughters Hospital
of Beckley.

In 1903, in Essex County, Virginia, Doctor Hume married
Gazelle Hundley, daughter of John T. and Sallie (Garnett)
Hundley, natives of Virginia. Her father was an educator
and a soldier in the Civil war. Doctor Hume and wife
have no children of their own, but for a number of years
have been deeply interested in the welfare and progress of
her sister's children, including Doctor Hoskins.   They
adopted two of the daughters, Beverly Hoskins Hume and
Mathilda Hoskins Hume. Doctor Hume is a member of the
Christian Church, is a Royal Arch and Knight Templar
Mason and Shriner, votes as a democrat, and is a member
of the County and State Medical associations. He and his
family live in the finest home at Beckley.