Early Female Physicians in Defiance County - Dr. Bell Craver Slocum

Around the turn of the century, and even earlier, Defiance was blessed with at least five dedicated female physicians: Dr. Kate Hoover, Dr. Nettie Belau, Dr. Adelia Rohn, Dr. Ella White, and Dr. Bell Craver Slocum.

*Dr. Bell Craver (Dr. Bell Slocum, Sophia B. Slocum, Isabel)

Bell Craver, the daughter of David and Eliza Craver, spent her early years in Williams County.  Her father was a farmer in Superior Township.  By 1870, Bell was living with her parents and siblings, Mary, 25, a teacher; James, 22, a farmer; Emma, 17, and Lucy, 14, students.  Bell, then 20, was in nursing school.

Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Bell went on to study at the Northwestern Medical School to become a physician.  In 1882, a Defiance newspaper, reported that she had opened an office with Dr. Kate Hoover over the Hengstetler Clothing Store.

Bell Craver married Charles E. Slocum in 1900; she was 50 and he was 58.  Neither had any children.  The census enumerators counted Charles E. Slocum, also a physician, twice in the 1900 census.  The first entry found him in Defiance where he was renting a house.  The second entry found him on 13th Street in Toledo where he was also head of household and running a boarding house:
Slocum, Charles E., born December 1842, married two months, a physician
Slocum, Sophia B. (Bell), wife, born May 1850, a physician
Craver, Eliza, mother-in-law, born July 1814, 85 years old and a widow
Miller, Eunice B., niece, 22, single
Hankey, Harry, lodger, 28, clerk
White, Orla S., lodger, 31, produce broker
Monsorrat, N. S., lodger, 24, lawyer   

It seemed as though Bell had given up her physician's duties by the 1910 census when, still living at the 13th Street address, she defined herself as someone who "kept a boarding house."  Dr. Charles Slocum, 68, a physician, and nieces, Eunice Miller, 32, single, a housekeeper, and Hope Miller, 28, single, and a bookkeeper for a Fountain Pen Company, completed the household.

Dr. Charles E. Slocum died June 7, 1918, in Toledo, but was buried in Defiance.  His obituary appeared in the Defiance Democrat on June 10, 1915:

A photo of Dr. Charles Slocum may be found in the actual newspaper. 

 By 1920, Dr. Bell Slocum had moved in with her sister, Mary, 74, also a widow, and Mary's three daughters, Eunice B., 42, single; Inez, 38, single and a bookkeeper at a lumber company, and Lucy, 34, single, a kindergarten teacher.  Bell, 69, once more identified her occupation as physician in general practice.

Dr. Bell Craver Slocum died in May, 1928 and her obituary appeared in the Crescent-News on May 28:

Some of this couple's accomplishments were outlined in an entry in The Doctor's Who's Who, editor - Charles Wells Moulton, Saalfield Publishing Co., 1906:

SLOC.UM, Charles Elihu; physician; b. Northville, N. Y.; s. Caleb 
W. and Elizabeth (Bass) Slocum; ed. com. sch., Northville, Ft. 
Edward, N. Y. Coll., Univ. Mich. ; grad. Coll. Phys. Surgs., N. Y. 
City and Jefferson Coll.; post-grad. Ph.D., Univ. Pa., and LL.D., 
Defiance Coll.; m. 1900, Dr. Sophia B. Craver, Toledo, O. ; prof, 
vocal and respir. organs, Defiance Coll. Mus. ; prof, psychol. and 
ethics, Cleveland Coll. Phys. Surg., 1896-00; prof, biol, Defiance 
Coll. ; mem. State and Co. Med. Socs. ; A. M. A. ; Acad. Nat. Sci. ; 
Am. Micro. Soc. ; Am. Pub. Heal. Assn. ; A. A. Adv. Sci. ; many 
local socs. and assns. Author: several works on genealogy, 1882- 
1905, Defiance, O. ; contribs. to med. journs. Residence: Defiance, O.

 
Dr. Bell and her husband are buried in Riverside Cemetery with a large, ornate monument at their place.

Slocum Monument - information and photos at www.findagrave.com