Contra Costa County Biography

CLARK L. ABBOTT, M.D.

Among the best-known physicians of the Bay counties is Doctor Clark L. Abbot, an 
active, capable, and much respected citizen of Richmond, Contra Costa County. He 
was born in Seneca County, Ohio, October 5, 1874. His father, Abraham Lorenzo 
Abbott, is a native of Ohio, and is a man of high general standing in his 
community, a man of genial and cordial manners, and above all he is a man of 
noble aims. He has many friends and has the confidence and respect of all in his 
community, where he has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. Doctor 
Abbott's mother, Calena (Titus) Abbott, is also a native of Ohio, and to her 
were born three sons and three daughters. Of these the only surviving ones are 
Clark L. and one sister, Elvira, who resides on the home place in Ohio. The 
Abbott family was one of the first to be founded in America, and Doctor Abbott's 
great grandfather was one of the sturdy pioneers who assisted in settling that 
region now Ohio after the war of 1812. The family genealogy dates back to 
Revolutionary ancestry, and there were many in his family who took part in the 
Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War, 
and a goodly number of the Abbott family in Ohio have enlisted in the present 
conflict. Many in the family are members of the Sons and Daughters of the 
American Revolution. The Doctor's great-grandfather was among the men who 
assisted this Government in taking the Seneca Indians to Iowa. Doctor Abbott was 
reared on the home farm. He attended the public schools. He is a self-educated 
man, and has always been a careful student and close observer. Intent upon the 
successful study of medicine, in 1891 he entered Heidelberg University, at 
Tiffin, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1896 with the degrees of B.S. and M.S. 
He then entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, graduating from that 
institution in 1900. He served as intern in the leading Chicago hospitals for 
some time, when he decided to cast his lot with the Golden State and located in 
San Francisco, where he served as lecturing physician in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons. At the same time Doctor Abbott had opened an office in 
San Pablo, where he practiced his profession. He removed to Point Richmond, 
where he opened an office and began the general practice of medicine, and acted 
as physician and surgeon for the Santa Fe railroad for this district. Doctor 
Clark L. Abbott was married in Ohio in 1901 to Miss Nellie Rule, a native of 
that State and a daughter of one of the representative farmers in his locality.  
Mr. Rule was a man who took an active part in local politics, and his death, 
which occurred in 1901, was mourned by a wide circle of friends. His wife passed 
away in 1915. In his political affiliations Doctor Abbott is a Republican, and 
has taken an active part along party lines for the past twelve years. During the 
early days in Richmond, the Doctor was one of a committee who had charge of the 
incorporation of the town and was a member of the freeholders who drew up the 
first charter. During his residence in Ohio he was made a Mason, becoming a 
member of Greensprings Lodge. He served as Exalted Ruler of Richmond Lodge, 
B.P.O.E., for three terms, and for some time past has been president of the 
board of directors of that lodge. He is also a member of the I.O.O.F. lodge. 
Doctor Abbott is a member of the county and State medical associations, a Fellow 
of the American College of Surgery, and is chairman of the Auxiliary Committee 
of Medical Defence of Contra Costa County. Personally, he is a genial and 
companionable man, and those who come in the circle of his friendship find him 
broad-minded and liberal, a supporter of public movements, and one whose success 
has been well deserved. He was elected coroner in 1906, which office he now 
holds. 
 
Source: "The History of Contra Costa County, California", Elms Publ. Co., 1917, 
pp 431-432

Transcribed by Doug Barber, July 2006.

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm