GIVEN NAMES
The middle name of "Egbert" was documented in an e-mail I received in the year 2000, in which the writer had undertaken considerable first hand research of a wide variety of sources.

MEDICAL SCHOOL GRADUATION
I (JPC) wrote to the University of Louisville to verify Dr. Overton's matriculation in that school. Ms. Katherine Burger Johnson, Archivist, replied: "Your inquiry was forwarded to me and I was able to check our database of medical students and then an 1849-1850 catalog to verify that Samuel Overton graduated from the U of L Medical School in 1850. His home was listed as Tennessee and his preceptor (the person he "interned" with was J.B. Hayes, MD) Interestingly enough, there was also a Waller Overton, who graduated in the same class, also from Tennessee. I checked the 1886 POLK'S MEDICAL AND SURGICAL DIRECTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, and it lists Samuel Overton as practicing in Omen, TX and graduating from U of L in 1850, so this supports the earlier graduation date."

A listing of graduates of this medical college includes Samuel Overton and indicates the subject of his thesis was "tetanus." A booklet published in 1851 by the University of Louisville states the following fees are applicable to students in the medical degree program:

"The Fees for a full course of Lectures amount to $105. The Fee for the Diploma is $25. The Matriculation Fee, which gives access to the Library, is $5. The Fee for admission to the Dessecting Rooms and Demonstrations is $10; and that for admission to the Hospital is $5, all payable in advance. Comfortable boarding, including lodging, fuel, and lights, can be procured at from $2.50 to $3 a week."

1860 SLAVE SCHEDULE
The 1860 Slave schedule for the Canton beat of Smith County reflected the fact that Samuel Overton owned three slaves; two sixteen years of age (male and female) and a one year old black male.

1860 CENSUS
Smith County, Texas, Canton (Omen) beat August 27, 1860, page 1084-1083
Overton Saml, 39, physician ; Sarah, 27; Nancy, 7; Mary, 5; Julia, 3; Wm., 1
Real Estate Value $3,500; Personal Value $2,800.

CIRCA 1864 CIVIL WAR SERVICE
Dr. Overton served for a year or so in a Calvary Unit of the Confederate States of America. In applying for a Confederate War Veteran's Pension, Sarah Cleveland Overton could not recall the unit in which her husband served, but she remembered it as "Rucker's Unit." While reviewing Dr. Overton's medical ledgers, I did locate in 1866 (page 83) entries for a "Captain J.E. Rucker." According to library sources, Captain James E. Rucker served in the 14th Cavalry, Company B. In searching the same records, I found "Overton, Samuel, Cavalry 1st Regiment, State Troops, Assistant Surgeon."

Further to the above, the 1860 Federal Census of Smith County, Texas reflects a "J.E. Rucker, 42, born in Tennessee" and his wife Elizabeth, also born in Tennessee, as living in the Omen, Texas area. The census indicates they had thirteen children. Replies to my posting of inquiries on the Internet indicated that James Ervin Rucker was born April 22, 1818 in McMinn County, Tennessee and served as Captain of Company B, 14th Calvary and Company L, 9th Battalion, Reserve Corps.

As an update to the above, in April 2001, Carol Anne and I spent some time at the national archives in Washington, D.C. I found Dr. Overton's Confederate Record which noted that he had been mustered into the 1st Regiment Calvary, Texas State Troops, Company F & S, in Velasco, Texas on January 28, 1864 by W. S. Herndon. Dr. Overton was listed as an Assistant Surgeon of the regiment. His "card number" was 50208187.

1870 CENSUS
Smith County, Canton Beat, pages 114-114
Overton, Sam'l, 47, physician, real estate value of $3,000 and personal value of $6,000; Sarah, 38; Nancy, 17; Mary, 16; Julia, 14; William, 13; Cornelia, 2; Sarah, 1; Knox, 10 months

1880 CENSUS
Smith County, Page 12, Supervisor District 1, Enumeration District 95, Justice Precinct 1, June 11, 1880
Overton, Samuel, 59, physician (born in TN, father born in NC, mother born in SC); Sarah, 47, housekeeping (born in AL, father born in NC, mother born in GA); Julia J., 22; W.F., 21; Udora C., 18; Sarah M., 14; Knox, 12; Jesse, 10; Bernice Lewis, 5, granddaughter; Olive Lewis, 3, grandson; Mary Childress, born the previous October, granddaughter. (Note that Mary Childress also shows up as living in the household of Jemima Barron Childress in this same census.)

APPOINTED GUARDIAN, 1893
Texas, Smith Co. Probate Court, May, 1893
Wm. T. Childress, 18 years old and Mary Childress, 15 years old, orphans. Samuel Overton, grandfather, applied for and received guardianship. Notes from John F. Childress, Jr. to JPC dated 9/1/93 suggested that, according to our father John F. Childress, Sr., Dr. Overton applied for guardianship in order to have William Thomas, our grandfather and 18 years old at the time, available for labor in his fields. This seems to be idle speculation (at least I hope it is).

PERSONAL AND BUSINESS EFFECTS
Samuel Overton was a physician in the small town of Omen, Texas. He practiced medicine up until the time of his death in 1897. My grandfather, William Thomas Childress, owned a farm in Arp, Texas, not far from Omen where Dr. Overton had an office. After Samuel died, his medical ledgers were passed along to William Childress. In examining the medical ledgers owned by my family (two in the possession of my mother, Dorothy Childress and one possessed by my cousin, Robert L. Stephenson) and the three ledgers owned by the Smith County Historical Society archives, I can account for about 22 years of his practice in Omen, beginning with 1866 and ending in 1897.
I occasionally look over the old Dr. Overton medical ledgers dating from the era immediately following the Civil War. Dr. Overton would note the treatment of a "freed man," and record the payment for such services, often in terms of bushels of corn or other foodstuffs.

MOVE TO TEXAS FROM TENNESSEE
In the Chronicles of Smith County, Texas, Vol. X, No. 2, p. 42, it is written that:
"Dr. Samuel Overton came to Omen in 1854 with his new wife Sarah C. Weaver. He had two brothers, Abdon A. and Jesse. Abdon didn't stay long in Omen, quickly moving to Rusk County. Jesse, also a physician, practiced in Omen for a short while before his death at about 33 years of age." In one of the Chronicles, a map depicts the location of Jesse and Samuel's offices in Omen, Texas. Abdon moved to Henderson, Rusk County, I (JPC) believe.

RECOLLECTIONS OF SAMUEL BY FAMILY
According to a letter dated March 15, 1880 from his brother, E.C. Overton, to a cousin Mattie Belle Overton in Clinton, Louisiana, E.C.'s brother Samuel "lives in Smith County, Texas, Post Office Old Canton, and has a large family. He has practiced medicine in Canton 34 years and weighs 220 pounds at age 60."

TRANSCRIPTIONS OF MEDICAL LEDGERS
Working over a period of almost two years, this writer transcribed all of Dr. Overton's entries in six of his medical ledgers. The ledgers dated from circa 1866 up through his last year in practice and the year of his death, 1897. In all, there were 12,550 entries transcribed which collectively painted a vivid picture of the doctor's work and times in Omen, Texas in the last half of the nineteenth century. The resultant research article was posted in August 2000 on the East Texas Historical Society's web site, which can be reached at:

Dr. Samuel Overton - Vintage Medical Ledgers Perused

The above web site also has numerous photos of the Overton family, as well as additional genealogical information.

View a photograph of this individual by visiting the online family photo album at:

Childress/Mathis Photo Album

Photographs of many other related individuals also are in the above album.

• Married: 25 JAN 1852 in Smith County, Texas, Vol A, page 10
• Note: Listed in the Jesse Overton family bible.

1. Susannah Overton b: 20 OCT 1852
2. Bernice Nancy Overton b: 17 FEB 1854 in Smith County, Texas
3. MARY ELIZABETH Overton b: 12 NOV 1855 in Smith County, Texas
4. Julia J. Overton b: 2 OCT 1857 in Texas
5. William Franklin Overton b: 1859 in Texas
6. Udora Cordelia Overton b: 1862 in Smith County, Texas
7. Cornelia Overton b: 1867 in Texas
8. Knox Overton b: SEP 1868 in Smith County, Texas
9. Sarah Minerva Overton b: 8 MAY 1865 in Smith County, Texas
10. Jesse Thomas Overton b: 1 NOV 1870 in Omen, Smith County, Texas
11. Samuel Overton b: 23 JUN 1873 in Smith County, Texas

1. Title: Jesse Overton Family Bible
   Author: The New Testament
   Publication: Published by C. Ewer, & T. Bedlington, J.H.A. Frost, Printer
   Note: Xeroxed pages in reasonably good shape
   Repository:
   Note: W. Howard Bramlette is owner of this family bible.
   Media: Book
   Page: Birth Records
   Text: "Samuel Overton was born January 22, 1821."