Philip H. Letourneau, M.D.
Dr. Philip H. Letourneau, practicing in Waukon along modern
and scientific lines, is recognized as an able exponent of is
profession and the liberal patronage accorded his is proof of the
confidence reposed in him by the general public. He is a native
of Illinois, born in Bourbonnairs Grove, Kankakee county, April
20, 1860, and is a son of Hon. George R. Letourneau, born in
Canada, of French ancestry. George R. Letourneau came to the
United State and settle in Illinois, where he was one of the
pioneers in Kankakee county, In 1849 he crossed the plains by
wagon train going to California, but at Fort Laramie was seized
with typhoid fever and was obliged to remain there for six weeks,
his partner and friend nursing him through his illness. Upon his
recovery they journeyed on horseback to the gold mines of
California and for some time engaged in freighting from
Sacramento to the gold fields, a distance of two hundred miles.
Mr. Letourneau later turned his attention to mining and after
three years returned to Illinois with about five thousand dollars
in gold, which he invested in land near Kankakee. He purchased
two hundred and forty acres and opened up a new farm, clearing
and fencing property and improving it with a fine residence, a
barn and substantial outbuildings. He farmed there for a number
of years, eventually selling his property at two hundred and
fifty dollars per acre. During this time he also engaged in the
grain business in Kankakee, building large elevator, which he
afterward sold. He was one of the prominent men of affairs in
Kankakee county and left he impress of his work and personality
upon its political history. He served for a number of years as
supervisor and was afterward for two terms in the state senate
during Governor Altgeld’s administration. He made an
honorable record in this and other official positions of trust
and honor and was county treasurer of Kankakee county at the time
of his death. His, wife, who was in her maidenhood Miss Elodie
Langlios, passed away in 1896, and was survived by her husband
until December, 1907. In their family were twelve children six
sons and six daughters, of whom nine grew to maturity.
Dr. Philip H. Letourneau was reared in Kankakee, Illinois, and
acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of that
section. After completing the high school course he studied
medicine in Northwestern University, graduating from the medical
department with the class of 1881, when he was twenty-one years
of age. He returned home and spent the following summer in
Kankakee county, moving in the fall of that year to Chippewa
Falls, where he opened an office and began the practice of his
profession. He remained there for twelve years and secured a
gratifying and lucrative patronage in recognition of his ability
and the excellent results which attended his labors. For the last
seven years of that time he was connected with St. Joseph’s
Hospital and for two years served as county coroner. When he left
Chippewa Falls Dr. Letourneau moved to Dubuque, where he
practiced his profession for one year, going at the end of that
time to Lowden, Iowa, where for one year he managed the practice
of one of the old physicians there. From Lowden he came to Waukon
and in 1896 opened an office here, where he has since been an
honored member of the medical fraternity. From the beginning he
was accorded a liberal patronage, which has increased yearly,
being now of gratifying proportions. Dr. Letourneau is an earnest
and scientific student of the underlying principles of medicine
and never considers his professional education complete, keeping
in touch with the most advanced medical thought by taking post
graduate courses from time to time. He is an exhaustive reader
along professional lies and in his practice his labor have been
attend with excellent results viewed from both a financial and
professional standpoint. He owns a good home in Waukon and
valuable farming property near San Antonio, Texas, upon which
Bermuda onions are extensively grown.
Dr. Letourneau married, in 1897, Miss Angelia Dodge, who was born
and reared in Wisconsin. Mrs. Letourneau is a member of the
Waukon Methodist Episcopal church and well known in religious and
social circles. The Doctor is interested in community affairs and
is a public-spirited citizen, who has done effective work for the
welfare of the community. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias. A student of the signs of the times, he keeps in touch
with the trend of modern thought concerning matters of general
interest as well as of professional advancement and has made a
creditable record as a member of the medical fraternity.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
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