Tehama County Biographies

JAMES S. CAMERON, M.D.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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

 
is a worthy citizen and a leading physician of Red Bluff. He was born in 
Edgefield District, South Carolina, November 20, 1845.  His father, James 
Cameron, was also a native of South Carolina, born in 1798.  He was a planter by 
occupation.  His religious views were in accordance with the Associate Reformed 
Presbyterian Church and he was a faithful member of the same.  His wife, nee 
Malinda Toland, was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and a sister of the late Dr. H. H. 
Toland, of San Francisco.  The Camerons came from Scotland.  Grandfather Cameron 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
            The subject of this sketch is the only survivor of a family of four 
sons and three daughters.  He received his education at Erskine College, in his 
native State, and left that institution in August, 1861, at the age of sixteen, 
to join the Confederate army.  He participated in the fortunes of the army in 
Virginia until the close of that great struggle, when General Lee surrendered.  
Our young soldier was with General Johnson when the news of the surrender 
reached them.  They disbanded and he returned to his home and took the oath of 
allegiance to the United States.  He then went to Philadelphia and entered 
Jefferson College, where he studied medicine under Professor William H. Pancost, 
professor of anatomy in the college.
            May 10, 1866, Dr. Cameron sailed from New York and landed at San 
Francisco June 13, following.  He there entered the office of his uncle, Dr. H. 
H. Toland, then and since one of the most noted physicians on the coast.  He 
remained with him until November 26, 1868, when he left San Francisco, and on 
the night of the 28th landed at Red Bluff.  Here he opened an office and began 
the practice of his profession, and his career as a physician in this place has 
been a successful one.
            Two years after he came here he was united in marriage with the 
second daughter of Mr. H. Gerke.  She was born in San Francisco, April 24, 1852. 
 Their union was blessed with two sons, James Henry and George Toland, both born 
in Red Bluff.  Mrs. Camerona was a beautiful and refined lady, a noble and true 
wife and a loving mother.  Their happy married relation was interrupted by her 
death, which occurred November 6, 1880, her disease being enlargement of the 
spleen.  Her loss was a severe blow to the Doctor and his little family and also 
to her many friends and acquaintances in Red Bluff.
            Dr. Cameron was engaged in building one of the finest residences in 
the city, and he sold the property soon after his wife�s death.  He has since 
remained single, and he now lives at the Tremont Hotel.  He met with two serious 
accidents not more than a year apart, being thrown from his buggy each time; 
first, his arm was broken, and July 15, 1884, the other arm was fractured, and 
he also sustained severe injury to his head.  He has since been resting and 
recuperating.  Up to the time of his injury he hand an enormous practice and had 
made himself a benefit to his race, going night and day to treat the suffering 
without stopping to ask whether they were rich or poor.  In politics the Doctor 
is a Democrat.  He is a Master Mason, a Knight Templar and a Scotch Rite Mason.  
His office is in the Cone & Kimball building.
 
Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing 
Co., 1891, pp 566-567