SIDEROAD: The Remarkable Ripley's: Veterinarians of Marble Rock

I talked a little last time about Lovina Ripley Wood, who lived to the ripe age of 100. Her parents, Col Judge David C Ripley and Easter Griswold were early Iowa pioneers.

All of Lovina's kids moved to the Denison, Texas area except for veterinary surgeon, Dr. Asa Wood, who settled in Marble Rock in Floyd County and had a thriving large animal veterinary practice for many years.

Dr. Wood was born 18 June of 1854 in Gallia County, Ohio and came with his parents to Iowa in 1865. He married Juda Jane Reams on 28 Sep 1877 in Charles City, Iowa, and the couple had at least eight children all told.

Veterinary surgeons/Veterinarians of the early 1900s had many jobs. There were no antibiotics, the conditions in which most animals lived were often dirty and bug-filled, and payment was often problematic. Before World War I, over half the country was in the farming industry. Vets ended up concerning themselves with the health of humans and their food supplies within their animal care. Vets were also at the fore in identifying and treating animal diseases. Dr. Wood's practice thrived and the couple shared a lot of travel to the homes of various relatives over the years. As one might imagine, being a large animal vet is sometimes dangerous business.

One day last week while attending to a colt, which had been badly cut in a wire fence, Asa Wood had his left arm badly injured.
Marble Rock Journal, Marble Rock, Iowa
Thursday, October 15, 1908

MARBLE ROCK MAN IS INJURED WHEN HORSE STUMBLES

Marble Rock, Ia, July 11 - Dr Asa Wood, veterinary surgeon, suffered a collarbone fracture and crushed shoulder when a horse fell against him at the Peter Staudt farm.
Waterloo Evening Courier, Waterloo, Iowa
Wednesday, July 11, 1928

He somehow managed to survive his various accidents in the line of duty only to be claimed by a lingering illness at his home on South Main St in Marble Rock on 18 Sep 1931 in Marble Rock. His son Leo continued the veterinary practice after his father's death. His wife Juda died 18 Mar 1938 in Floyd County.

SIDEROAD: Remarkable Ripleys: Lovina Ripley Wood, Centenarian

Col Judge David C Ripley and wife Easter Griswold

The Ripley's are a family my family married into and adopted into. They also remain one of the most fascinating families in the old tree. They arrived from North Yorkshire in about 1642. One of the grandchildren of William married into the Bradford family who were here with the first Plymouth Rock landing of the Mayflower.

Some branches were far more well-to-do than others, but even those less wealthy were pretty interesting. I put into this group the great great grandfather of my uncle Marvin Ripley, Col Judge David C. Ripley, who lived a grand life of adventure and was a daring early pioneer into Iowa and Colorado. He was a territorial legislator and Ranger in Colorado and was the judge who ruled on the fractious battle for the Floyd County county seat that occurred in the 1850s.

Last photo of Lovina prior to her death

David and his wife had nine children, among them was Lovina, who was born in Gallia County, Ohio on 22 Nov 1822. She married James L. Wood on 15 Jan 1847 in Gallia County. James hailed from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and was born in 1821. In 1865, the couple followed many of her close relatives to Iowa and in 1883, they moved on to Illinois.

They kept moving and ended up in Denison, Texas by 1888. The couple had nine children, three having died, and three of whom settled in the Denison area. Son Asa Wood, DVM, a large animal vet, lived in Marble Rock in Floyd County, Iowa.

Here are a couple of excerpts from an article republished from the Denison Herald in about 1912:

"You will think it's funny, when I tell you, but we were married in jail. This is how it happened. Her father was sheriff and tended the jail and my wife has shut many a prison door behind a prisoner. Well, they lived on one side of the jail and as her father married us, it took place in the jail at Gallipolis. We started housekeeping on rented land without a dollar in the world, but we got along alright. We didn't have to spend so much in those days. I worked ten years for one man. We raised flax to make our own clothes and raised sheep for our woolen ware. My wife carded, spun, and wove many a hundred yards of cloth." The entire article, which was written upon the occasion of them being declared Denison's oldest citizens, is fascinating and posted below.

James died in 1915 at the ripe age of 94, but Lovina continued to be active and alert until past her 100th birthday. Her own statements indicate she never needed to wear glasses to read the paper and according to her family, her memory was great up to the end of her life. She finally passed away on 11 Mar 1923 in Denison. Six of her children survived, ranging in age from 59 to 74.