March 2023 Newsletter

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Hunter’s Corner

Frontier Times Magazine
Volume 8-No. 1
October, 1930

Robstown Slate 110 Year Old

The slates have long since disappeared from the schools and the more expensive tablets and pencils have taken their place.  Hardly ever is a slate seen in a store, and it may be said that the makers of slates for schools are out of a job or engaged in other pursuits.  Many of the younger generation never saw a slate.   Those who have not and care to see what the slates looked like, may find one in the home of E.G. Griffin, Jr., of Robstown.  Mr. Griffin has an old slate of the larger type, the kind used by the boys and girls who were advanced in their studies and had lengthy and troublesome mathematical problems to solve.  This old slate is 16 by 12 inches and has been owned by Mr. Griffin for twelve years. But the slate was in use long before Mr. Griffin came into possession thereof.  It was bought in Alabama 110 years ago by Mr. Griffins's grandfather and has been in the family ever since.

Frontier Tales

A Community Clinic Comes to Life

Rebecca Huffstutler Norton
 
EARLY MEDICINE IN BANDERA COUNTY
           
As a rural community, early medical care in Bandera was conducted by a few, dedicated doctors who came to know their patients as members of their own families.  When the earliest pioneers settled in the rough terrain of Bandera County, medical care was often homegrown remedies, cures based more on old wives tales rather than actual scientific principles.  Even early doctors, such as one Dr. Johnson, made their own cures from what they found in nature such as pecan bark tea to cure yellow jaundice or watermelon seed tea for kidney ailments.  As the county developed, more professionally trained doctors opened practices to serve residents. Some doctors were traveling practitioners, such as Dr.  A.J. Greer, an itinerant dentist who traveled throughout the county with his dentist chair and equipment in the back of a wagon.  Others were well-loved members of the community who had a profound impact on the quality of life in early Bandera County.
One such doctor was Dr. James Oscar Butler.  Moving to Bandera in 1903, Dr. Butler was famous for reputedly delivering more than 1,000 babies in the county during his 50 years of practicing medicine.  He treated patients throughout the county, having offices in Tarpley, Medina and Bandera.  He was a typical country doctor, riding on horseback over dark hilly trails, and later by automobile over rough roads, in any type of weather to care for his patients.  Families also took advantage of non-professional doctors such as Aunt Pal Wilson, who learned while working alongside Dr. Johnson and became a respected mid-wife, practicing her type of medicine well into the 1930s.
Dr. George Meador did the most to professionalize medical care in Bandera County, starting his practice here in 1951.  He wrote that without two-way radios, doctors had to always let the “girls in the telephone office” know his whereabouts. The only ambulance service was provided by the local funeral home and there was no EMS.  Dr. Meador later worked out of a small hospital at the corner of 13th Avenue and Sycamore.  He operated as the only doctor in the county for three decades and was as well-respected in his lifetime as Dr. Butler was before him.   
Families were able to pay for their health care through a variety of ways.  Dr. Butler was offered a monthly $50 contract by families in Tarpley.  Twenty-five families each agreed to give him $2 a month in return for his medical services, though he would eventually tear up the contract since some families used him often while other families rarely called upon him. He then based his fees on the services performed, among his fees - $10 to deliver a baby.  Aunt Pal recalled being paid with fresh milk, chickens, eggs, and other in-kind trades. Dr. Meador often gave free advice over the phone, an early form of telemedicine, and only charged $15 for a house call.  Over the years, as health care became more professionalized, the cost of the care increased dramatically.  The days of $10 baby deliveries became a part of history.

Do You Love History?  Do You Love Telling Stories?  The museum is currently accepting applications for a new Docent Program. Theresa Doyle-Nelson has created a docent program where volunteers will meet and greet museum guests and help provide tours of the museum galleries. If interested, please call the museum at 830-796-3864.

Jamboree March 26th

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Members Renew
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New Member
Don & Deborah Davis

Volunteers
Holly Boyle
Elizabeth Griffith 
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Toni  Kunz
Logan Miles 
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Jennifer Nimmrichter
Eddie Rowe
John Schuetze
Roger Wolfe  
Lanie Wood-Intern

Volunteers-Jamboree Musicians
Lew Pewterbaugh 
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David Le Steourgeon   
Lee Harmon 
Lee Haile 
Homer Whisenant 
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Bob  DeGeorge   
Dennis Owen   
Danny White

 Become a member today! 
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P.O.Box 1918 Bandera, TX 78003
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