Otis B. Nesbit, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Otis B. Nesbit
OTIS B. NESBIT, M. D. Possessing an excellent knowledge of the science which he has chosen as a profession, Otis B. Nesbit, M. D., of Valparaiso, has acquired prominence as a physician and built up a most satisfactory patronage in the city and its suburbs. A native of Kansas, he was born January 31, 1871, in Severance, coming from pioneer stock and of Virginia ancestry. His father, the late Dr. Samuel F. Nesbit, was born in 1822, in Kentucky, where his father, a Virginian by birth and breeding, located on leaving his native state. Migrating to Kansas in pioneer days, he located first in Doniphan county, where he practiced medicine and in addition to his professional labors was a preacher in the Christian church. Active and influential in public affairs, he served as a member of the state legislature one or more terms, while in that body bring true to the interests of his constituents. A prominent member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, he assisted in organizing one of the first Masonic lodges established in Kansas, and was one of its most active and honored members until his death, in 1895. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Templer, was born in Ohio, and is now, in 1912, living in Richmond, California. Of the eight children born of their marriage, six survive, as follows: Mrs. Mary McCray, of Richmond, California; Mrs. Rachel Young, of Highland, Kansas; Rev. S. A. Nesbit, of Napa, California; Rev. E. T. Nesbit, of Pacific Grove, California; Miss Nannie L., of Richmond, California; and Otis B., the subject of this brief biographical record.
Spending his childhood days in his native town, Otis B. Nesbit there obtained the rudiments of his future education, which was afterwards advanced in the public schools of Leona, Doniphan county, Kansas, and in the schools of Washington county. Beginning the battle of life for himself when comparatively young, he first clerked in a drug store, and was later engaged in newspaper work until 1898. Leaving Kansas in that year, he came to Valparaiso, Indiana, to continue his studies. Entering the Northern Indiana College, he was graduated as a pharmacist in 1899, and three years later, in 1902, was graduated from the Bennett Medical College, in Chicago, Illinois, with the degree of M. D. Returning to Valparaiso, Dr. Nesbit has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in this city, and has also held the chair of professor of therapeutics at the Valparaiso University, holding an honored position among the faculty of that institution. The Doctor is prominent in various medical organizations, being a member and the president or the Porter County Medical Society; a member of the Indiana State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association, secretary of the Tenth District Indiana Medical Society; director for the Tenth District of the Indiana society for the study and prevention of tuberculosis; and president of the Valparaiso city board of health.
Dr. Nesbit married, in 1898, Alice Vincent, a daughter of Dr. A. W. and Mary (Wood) Vincent. The Doctor and Mrs. Nesbit have two children, namely: Allegra Mary and Beatrice Templer.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 545-546
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook