Dr. Constant P. Wilson, Jr.

Dr. Constant P. Wilson, Jr., who for eight years has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Fort Smith following thorough college training and broad hospital experience in Pennsylvania, was born June 17, 1882, in the city which is still his home, and is a son of Constant P. and Nellie (Collins) Wilson. The father is also a native of Fort Smith and a son of Thomas E. Wilson, who came to this city in 1835. He was then connected with the U. S. A. troops and drove through from Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky. His father had been a soldier of the Revolutionary war and Thomas E. Wilson became a representative of the commissary department of the regular army, while later he was a sutler with the troops and was usually known as Colonel Wilson. He was associated with Major Rector in the operation of a line of boats on the Mississippi and mention of them is found in Featherstone Hough's "Travels Through the Southern States." published by Murray & Company of Albemarle street, London, England, in 1842. In this volume Featherstone Hough ridiculed Colonel Wilson and Major Rector. who, displeased with the account written, bought up all the copies of the book and destroyed them. However, Senator Clark had a copy in Washington, D. 0., containing the humorous account of the two men. In the maternal line, too, the ancestry was represented in connection with the military history of the country as a representative of the commissary. for Mr. Collins, grandfather of Dr. Wilson of this review, furnished the Confederate troops west of the Mississippi with their beef cattle. His father, Constant P. Wilson, Sr., was a soldier in the Baxter and Brooks skirmish. He is still very active at the age of seventy-one years and is engaged in the cultivation of one thousand acres of land. Dr. Wilson and three sisters are the survivors of a family of six children. In the attainment of his education he was graduated from the high school of Fort Smith with the class of 1902 and from the University of Arkansas with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1906. He then entered the University of Pennsylvania, in which he pursued the regular course, winning his M. D. degree in 1910. The value of his professional training was tested by his service as interne in the Philadelphia General Hospital and afterward as interne at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He was also senior resident physician at the Philadelphia Hospital for Contagious Diseases, having charge of the diphtheria department. His early professional experience was thus of a broad, varied and valuable character and constituted an excellent. foundation on which to build success following his return to his native city. He opened an office in Fort Smith in 1913 and his record was contrary to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, for through the succeeding four years he was accorded a large private practice and also served as city physician, as city bacteriologist and as police surgeon. In April, 1917, Dr. Wilson volunteered for service in the World war, reporting at Fort Riley on the 27th of August. He was ordered to Jefferson Barracks on the 26th of October, 1917, for duty in the Laboratory Post Hospital and there remained until September, 1918, when he was ordered overseas in charge of the laboratory for Base Hospital No. 131, being commissioned a first lieutenant. Later he was advanced to the rank of captain and following his discharge received a commission as major in the Reserve Corps. He did not get to cross to France, for just at the time that he was to sail his wife died-a victim of the influenza epidemic- and he secured a leave of absence to return home. Later, instead of being allowed to join his hospital in France, he was kept on the coast, where he had manifold duties, receiving his discharge November 30, 1919. He then returned to Fort Smith, where he has since practiced. He is an expert bacteriologist and in connection with his scientific work of that character he engages in the general practice of medicine and surgery. He has recently been engaged in recruiting citizens of Fort Smith between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five years for a month's military training at Camp Pike, Arkansas. Dr. Wilson's wife was in her maidenhood Miss Lucy Lewis. a daughter of an Episcopal minister of Philadelphia. She died leaving three children: Lucy Lewis, Constant Penn (III) and Jane Collins. Dr. Wilson is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a past president of the University of Pennsylvania Southern Club and he belongs to the Alpha Kappa Kappa, a medical fraternity, and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a college fraternity, also to the Theta Nu Epsilon, an inter fraternity. He is identified with the Sons of Confederate Veterans and also with the Sons of the American Revolution. Dr. Wilson took the examination before the state board and holds a license to practice in the states of Arkansas, Maryland. Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. He is a past vice president of the James Tyson Medical Society, a member of the Sebastian County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. A laudable ambition has prompted him to attain the highest degree of efficiency possible in his chosen calling and a broad spirit of humanitarianism also actuates him in his chosen life work. from Find A Grave Dr. Constant Perkins Wilson Jr. was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas to the late Constant P. Wilson and Nellie (Collins) Wilson. He graduated from Fort Smith High School in 1902 and from the University of Arkansas in 1906, with a Bachelor of Science degree. He then went on to the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from there in 1910, having received his Doctorate of Medicine. Dr. Wilson served his internship at the Philadelphia General Hospital and then at Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He became the Senior Resident at Philadelphia Hospital for Contagious Diseases. He was in charge of the Diphtheria Department. Dr. Wilson started his practice in Fort Smith in 1913; where he also served as the City Physician; the City Bacteriologist; and the Police Surgeon. Then in 1917, Dr. Wilson volunteered to serve in World War I; where he served in Post Hospital. He returned to Fort Smith, after the world war. His wife (Lucy Lewis), died of the severe "Bird Flu" outbreak that occurred during World War I. couple had three children: Lucy Lewis(Mrs J.W. Scott; Constant Penn II; and Jane Collins( Mrs. J.T. Smith). He returned to Fort Smith and later married Doris Quaile (daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Quaile). \ The couple raised three children: James S. Wilson; William W. Wilson and Constance Q. Wilson(Mrs. C. W. McAdams). All three daughters became nurses. Dr. Wilson was a Master Mason; a member of the Mystic Shrine; and a 32 Degree Mason. He was a member of the Alpha Kappa Kappa; Sigma Alpha Epsilon; and Theta Nu Epsilon. Dr. Wilson died on April 1, 1932 and is buried at the National Cemetery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. December 16, 1912 Fort Smith Daily Herald August 24, 1915 Fort Smith Daily Herald Southwest Times Record