Biography - John Colt
John D. COLT, physician, Litchfield, was born in 1839, in Mahoning County, Ohio, at Berlin, where he passed his youth and received his early education; he attended an academy at Ellsworth, Ohio, and, at the age of seventeen years, began the study of medicine with Dr. George W. BROOKE, of Ellsworth; he subsequently continued his studies with Joseph WAGNER, of Deerfield, Portage Co., Ohio, to which place his parents had removed in the meantime. He entered upon a course of study in the Western Reserve College (now the Medical Department of Western Reserve University), and was at the same time under the private direction of Dr. Proctor THAYER until 1861, when he joined the United States Navy as able-bodied seaman, and was assigned to gunboat service; he was on the Ohio River for a time, but was finally transferred to Admiral PORTER's command. Soon after entering the navy, he ceased to do sea service, and was employed as Assistant Surgeon, and, after an examination by the Fleet Surgeon in 1862, was transferred to the hospital boat Red River; he acted in this capacity without commission until 1863, when he was taken sick, and, in July, returned home. He attended a second session of the Western Reserve Medical College, and graduated in the spring of 1864, and at once came to Litchfield, where he has since enjoyed an excellent practice. He has a membership in the Montgomery Medical Society, and one also in the State Medical Society.
Extracted 19 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, page 138.
