Dr. F. E. Webster, The Painless Dentist

Today I did a search for my maternal great-grandfather, Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster, on the Chronicling America website. My regular readers may remember that I refer to Watson as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. At some point in his life Watson changed his name to Frederick Emory Webster.

One of the search results on the Chronicling America website was this article on the front page of The Brinkley Argus newspaper.¹

The article reads:

Coming this Month.

Dr. F. E. Webster, the painless Dentist, now in Mexico will return to Brinkley during the month of October. Patrons and friends requested to wait his coming.

Announcement of exact date of coming, will be made later.

Dr. F. E. Webster

The Painless Dentist.

This article was dated October 12, 1906 and said that Frederick would be arriving that month. I wonder when he arrived. I'd like to see if there are any newspaper articles stating that he did arrive. I could then add this to my timeline for his life.

The article states that Frederick was in Mexico during this time period. I know he was in Mexico as early as 1904 according to a record that I have yet to share here on my blog.

Frederick called himself "The Painless Dentist" in this article. What did dentists typically use in the early 1900s for pain control during dental procedures?

I love finding information about my ancestors in newspapers. Researching in newspapers can provide such interesting glimpses into their lives. And newspapers can provide clues for future research. For instance, is there a border crossing document associated with Frederick's return to the United States in October of 1906? How many times did Frederick travel back and forth between Mexico and the United States to do dental work? I found one border crossing document from Mexico to the United States for Frederick that was dated 2 August 1926. It states his occupation as a dentist but doesn't say why he was traveling to the United States.

What interesting information have you found about your ancestors in newspapers?

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2020 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

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1 The Brinkley Argus. (Brinkley, Ark.), 12 Oct. 1906. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. ^↩

The Webster Dehorning Chute by E. P. C. Webster

Back in April of 2016, I shared the exciting discovery that my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster, was an inventor and that he had applied for and had been granted a patent for his invention. If you'd like to read about that, click HERE. Ebenezer, or E.P.C. as he was also known by, invented The Webster Dehorning Chute. It was a device to dehorn cattle.

Recently, while doing research in Newspapers.com, I found several ads for Ebenezer's Dehorning Chute invention. Today I'd like to share one of the ads. It's an almost full-page ad on the front page of the Kansas Farmer newspaper, dated Thursday, November 1, 1888.

Under the title "The Webster Dehorning Chute" are the words (Patent Applied For.) Ebenezer's patent was filed on May 22, 1888, and his patent was granted on April 15, 1890.

I'm quite impressed with the size of this ad, and that it is an illustration of how Ebenezer's Dehorning Chute worked.

I decided to save screenshots of each individual illustration and share them here. I also saved a screenshot of the instructions below the illustrations.

Here's the transcription of the paragraphs/instructions under the illustrations:

The foregoing illustrations show the great Dehorning Chute, invented and patent applied for by E. P. C. WEBSTER, of MARYSVILLE, KAS. Our readers know we have published everything that has come under our observation in the way of throwing light on the subject. For some time it has seemed that the question as to "whether or not it was best to dehorn," is settled in the affirmative. But the greater question, as to "How shall we hold the animals?" has been seemingly the only question asked of late on the subject. Mr. Webster has proven equal to the emergency, and has answered the question, and here we have it illustrated in four different views -

The first in the act of dehorning.

The second, with the cow released and ready to walk out.

The third, she has just gone out, and the one that stood behind her is now caught and will soon lose her horns.

The last picture shows the machine loaded on a wagon and the operator en route for another job. It is easily loaded in this position in ten minutes, and unloaded and set up in ten minutes more.

An expert can dehorn a cow per minute as long as they are kept up in the chute behind.

This frame stands in a low, strong wagon-bed. It has movable wings that are attached to the roller on top, by means of which it is drawn against the animal, and steadies it so it can't fall; the head is caught in a stanchion that opens and admits the animals walking through it; the head in the stanchion, the hood is thrown over the head and attached to the little windlass, and a man or boy draws the head to the right and holds it still; as soon as the horns are off, the attendant lets go the windlass crank, and the head is all free in an instant; then the operator, with one motion of his left hand on the two levers on top loosens the body and head both, and out goes the muley.

For large lots of cattle, this chute is set at the head of a long chute, such as is usually used for branding, and this entire length kept full of cattle. As one walks out, they all move up the length of a cow. For small lots, they may be driven into the barn or shed, and the chute set at the door, or into a small yard and the chute set at the gate.
☞ Write to E. P. C. WEBSTER, MARYSVILLE, KAS., or W. H. RICHARDS, CRESCO, IOWA, Proprietors and manufacturers, for Circulars, mentioning always the KANSAS FARMER.

Preserve this number for future reference.


The discovery of this newspaper ad for my 2nd great-grandfather's invention is quite fascinating and exciting.

I'll share more newspaper finds about Ebenezer in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved

Fred E. Webster, Jeweler ~ Ad in an 1890's Newspaper

Watson Emory Webster was my maternal great-grandfather. He's also known as "The Traveling Dentist" here on my blog. During his life he lived in and traveled to many different places. He practiced dentistry in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. During part of the late 1800's he lived in the state of Kansas.

At some point in his life he changed his name from Watson Emory Webster to Frederick Emory Webster. 

While doing research in the Newspapers.com website, I searched for Fred E. Webster. Among the many search results was several very interesting advertisements.

I'd like to share one of them today. It's from the Alliance Signal (Stockton, Kansas) dated 14 September 1893, Page 3.

Here's a transcription of the advertisement ~

FRED E. WEBSTER

JEWELER

20 to 60 per

cent discount on

all goods in my

line, for the

next ten days.

☞ Located in Raynolds' Drug Store.

What a great find! But, I wondered if this Fred E. Webster was my great-grandpa Frederick E. Webster. Through further research, I found that yes, the Fred in the ad was my great-grandpa Frederick E. Webster. An article in a newspaper referred to a Fred as the son of E. P. C. Webster. My great-grandpa Fred was the son of E. P. C. Webster. So that was an encouraging piece of evidence. Another article spoke of Frederick's sister-in-law coming to visit and referred to him as Fred E. Webster. There were other articles as well that provided evidence that this Fred E. Webster is my great-grandpa Frederick E. Webster.

Speaking of Frederick's father, E. P. C. Webster, I found a lot of interesting articles about him and his life in the newspapers. It would seem that the apple didn't fall far from the tree when it came to Fred and his father, E. P. C. I just assumed that E. P. C. was a farmer living a quiet life on the land, but I was wrong. I'll share more about my discoveries regarding E. P. C. in future posts.

Now back to today's advertisement about Fred as a jeweler. Isn't it fascinating? I knew great-grandpa Frederick had been a dentist and an inventor, but I didn't know he had also been a jeweler at some point during his life. This was an intriguing discovery.

I'm so excited to have found this ad about my great-grandfather, Frederick E. Webster. I've also found other interesting ads and articles, which I will be sharing in future posts.

Using newspapers in our family history research is so rewarding. They can provide a unique glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jana

© 2019 Copyright by Jana Iverson Last, All Rights Reserved