Remember the mysterious old metal tube I told you about in my previous post Treasure Chest Thursday ~ Grandpa Debs' Black Briefcase? Well, it's time for "The Big Reveal."
When I took the lid off of this unique metal tube, I pulled out something wrapped in a brown waxy paper. Unrolling the wax paper I discovered several amazing documents.
One of these documents was my Great-Grandpa Frederick Webster's Doctor of Dental Surgery Diploma from the Western Dental College in Kansas City, Missouri, dated April 2, 1896! Unbelievable! Here I was holding a document that was 116+ years old! How cool is that?! I just had to share this amazing find with you.
So here it is!
 |
| Frederick E. Webster Doctor of Dental Surgery Diploma April 2, 1896 Click to Enlarge |
I'd say this document is in remarkably good condition considering how old it is. The diploma measures approximately 19" x 14" so it was too large for my flatbed scanner. I used my Flip-Pal to scan the diploma and it worked great!
My regular readers may know that I sometimes like to crop and enlarge portions of the images I share in my posts. I chose to do this in this post as well.
Let's start with the college name on the diploma – Western Dental College of Kansas City, Missouri.
I did a little research about Western Dental College and this is what I found:
The University of Missouri-Kansas City website states the following,
"The lineage of the UMKC School of Dentistry reaches back to the 1881 founding of the Kansas City Dental College, then a department of the Kansas City Medical College. Eventually, the Dental College merged with the Western Dental College to form the Kansas City-Western Dental College. In 1941, the Dental College affiliated with the privately supported University of Kansas City and became that institution’s School of Dentistry. Twenty years later, the University of Kansas City joined the four-campus state University of Missouri system, and became the University of Missouri-Kansas City. As part of the merger, the dental school became the UMKC School of Dentistry."
Congratulations on your wonderful achievement Great-Grandpa Frederick!
"By virtue of the authority vested in this College by the State of Missouri and upon the completion of the prescribed Course of Study and the fulfilment [sic] of all requirements of this College it has this day conferred upon Fred E. Webster the Degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery, who shall be accorded all the honors privileges and legal rights pertaining to the Degree."
It was actually nice (and kind of a relief) to know that my Great-Grandpa Frederick really did become a Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), and that he wasn't just traveling around on his dental boat "practicing" the art of dentistry. Yes, I did say "dental boat." Below is a photo of the "F.E. Webster Dental Boat."
 |
| F. E. Webster Dental & Photo Boats 1896-1902 at Lake Charles, Louisiana |
I love that Fred had a Photo Boat too. It's the boat next to the Dental Boat in the photo above. And, believe it or not, Fred also had an Optical Boat with a sign out front that said "Eyes Tested Free." You can see a photo of that boat here.
And here are the official signatories on Fred's Doctoral Diploma.
"In Witness Whereof is affixed the seal of the College and the signatures of the Directors and Professors. Done at Kansas City Missouri U.S.A. Second day of April, 1896."
I thought it would also be important to transcribe the signatures at the bottom of the diploma, in case any descendants of theirs may be reading this blog post. It's always fun to find an ancestor's signature. Some of these signatures are difficult to decipher, so I'm afraid this transcription may not be as accurate as I'd like it to be. (Trying to decipher doctors' signatures…what was I thinking?)
Left Column
J. M. Gross MD D.D.S
|
Secretary
|
D. J. McMillen MD D.D.S
|
Operative Dentistry, Crown and Bridge Work, Dean of Faculty
|
K. ?. Ashby D.D.S
|
Prosthetic Dentistry
|
Edward Bumgardner AM MD D.D.S
|
Metallurgy
|
Geo Halley MD
|
Oral Surgery
|
J. M. Gross MD D.D.S
|
Dental Pathology and Therapeutics
|
T. H. Cunningham D.D.S
|
Dental Pathology and Therapeutics
|
C. F. Wilson Ph.D.
|
Chemistry
|
C. F. Wainwright MD
|
Anaesthesia
|
John W. Kyger M.D.
|
Syphilis and its Influence on the Teeth
|
C. E. Nilson MD
|
Anatomy
|
Right Column
| W. G. Price D.D.S. | President |
| W. F. Kuhn AM MD | Physiology |
| W. F. Fairbanks ? | Physiology |
| Jim Allen AB MD | Materia Medica and General Therapeutics |
| A. M. ? AM MD | Materia Medica and General Therapeutics |
| J. M. Thompson MD | Histology |
| H. O. Howawalt MD | General Pathology |
| John Punton MD | Neurology |
| H. H. Sullivan D.D.S. | Hygiene |
| John H. Johnson MD | Eye and Ear |
| W. C. K. Buchanan D.D.S. | Embryology |
| W. J. Brady D.D.S. | Orthodontia and Dental Techniques |
So that's it! The Big Reveal! This remarkable 116+ year old document is truly an amazing family heirloom. Thank you Great-Grandpa Frederick and Grandpa Debs for keeping this special document for your descendants to discover and enjoy.
Thanks for reading!
Jana
© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last
