Roane County, West Virginia    Biography of John Spurgeon CARPER, D. D. S.

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Submitted by Valerie Crook, <vfcrook@trellis.net>, March 1999
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The History of West Virginia, Old and New
Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., 
Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 105

JOHN SPURGEON CARPER, D. D. S. About one year after
receiving his honorable discharge as first lieutenant in the
Dental Corps of the United States Army, in which he had
been in service in France, Doctor Carper established him-
self in the practice of his profession at Morgantown, where
he has a finely equipped office, with the most approved fa-
cilities and accessories in both laboratory and operating
departments, and where he has built up a substantial and
representative practice.

Doctor Carper was born on a farm in Roane County, this
state, on the 9th of January, 1887, and is a son of Clif-
ton H. and Prussia (Stackhouse) Carper, the former a
native of Virginia and the latter of what is now West
Virginia. The father gave his entire active career to farm
enterprise, and his death occurred October 5, 1902, his
widow being now a resident of Charleston, the capital city
of West Virginia.

The first nineteen years of Doctor Carper's life were
passed on the farm, and in the meanwhile he profited by
the advantage afforded in the public schools. He was for
two years a student in the high school at Gassaway, Brax-
ton County, and thereafter attended the State Normal
School at that place for an equal period. He next made a
successful record as a teacher, his work having been in two
schools, and in 1910 he entered the Ohio College of Dental
Surgery at Cincinnati, in which he was graduated May 12,
1914, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. In
the same year he engaged in the practice of his profession
in the City of Charleston, where he continued until the
nation became involved in the World war, when he subordi-
nated all personal interests to enter into patriotic service.
On the 5th of October, 1918, Doctor Carper enlisted in the
Dental Corps of the United States Army and was sent to
Camp Lee, Virginia, where, six months later, he was com-
missioned a first lieutenant. From Camp Lee he was trans-
ferred to Camp Upton, New York, and four months later
he was ordered to France as a casual officer in the Dental
Corps. He continued in active duty in Prance for a period
of ten months, and on May 30, 1919, sailed for home. He
was mustered out and received his discharge at Camp Dix,
New Jersey, and he still is a member of the Dental Re-
serve Corps, in which his commission as first lieutenant will
expire January 10, 1922.

Upon leaving the army Doctor Carper engaged in the
practice of his profession at Gassaway, Braxton County,
but a year later he transferred his professional headquar-
ters to Morgantown, in which city he has built up an ex-
cellent practice. He is a member of Gassaway Lodge No.
196, Knights of Pythias, and is actively identified with the
Morgantown Chamber of Commerce.

Doctor Carper married Miss Madge Virginia Snyder,
daughter of Jackson and Mary (Burke) Snyder, of Gilmer
County, this state, and the one child of this union is a
daughter, Mary Gertrude.