California Biographies Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905 Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176 DEMETRIUS J. PRATHER, M. D. Although a comparatively new resident of Bakersfield, Demetrius J. Prather, M. D., has already acquired a fair share of the medical patronage of this locality, and is numbered among the most skillful and successful physicians and surgeons of Kern county. Talented, cultured and broadened by travel and experience, he inspires a feeling of confidence in those with whom he is brought in contact, whether professionally or socially. A son of Thomas F. Prather, he was born September 11, 1849, near Columbus, Ga. He comes from honored southern stock, being, according to tradition, the descendant of one of three brothers named Prather, who emigrated from England to the United States in colonial times, and settled in Maryland. His paternal grandfather, Thomas Prather, a life-long resident of Georgia, was a planter of prominence, and an influential citizen. A native of Wilkes county, Ga., Thomas F. Prather was the owner of a large plantation, and kept many slaves. During the Civil war he was captain of a company of militia in the Confederate army, and served throughout the entire conflict, being neither wounded nor taken prisoner, and at the close of the war surrendered. Prior to the breaking out of the war, he had sold his plantation, expecting to come west, and had taken his pay in Confederate money, which was worthless when the war was over. Beginning life anew in 1865, he rented a farm in Georgia, where for a number of years he raised cotton. Moving then to Union Springs, Ala., he there spent his remaining days, dying at the early age of fifty years, in 1873. He married Harriet Brown, also a native of Wilkes county, Ga. She was left an orphan when a little girl, and was brought up and educated by Gen. Robert Toombs, her first cousin. She died when about fifty years old. She bore her husband five children, namely : Gabriella T., wife of William Rankin, of Florida; Julius T., an invalid, residing in Fresno county, this state, was an officer in the Georgia State Reserve Militia during the war of the Rebellion ; Anderson T., who died in 1883, aged thirty-five years, served with his brother Julius in the Georgia State Reserve Militia, and both served as guards at Andersonville prison ; Demetrius J., the subject of this sketch, and Oscar, who died at the age of twenty-one years. Spending the days of his boyhood on the home plantation, Demetrius J. Prather attended the village school and academy, laying a substantial foundation for his future education. His parents having lost their entire property, he was forced to work hard to earn his living, and for a while was employed in agricultural pursuits. When twenty-one years old he became clerk in a drug store, and also read medicine for a year. Going then to Mobile, Ala., he attended lectures at the Mobile Medical College, after which he was licensed to practice on a large plantation among the negroes, thus earning sufficient money to complete his medical course. Subsequently enter- ing the Louisville Medical College, he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in the spring of 1876, and for the following seven years was engaged in the practice of his profession in Pres- cott, Ark. In 1883 Dr. Prather took a post-graduate course at the New York Polyclinic, and then opened an office in Little Rock, Ark., where he remained three years. Going again to New York City, he took a second post-graduate course at the same school in 1886. He then went abroad, and for a year studied in Vienna, Austria. Returning to Little Rock, he continued in active practice there one year, and then made another trip to Vienna, where he again studied, giving special attention to surgery and obstetrics. From 1890 until 1897 he was one of the leading phy- sicians of Little Rock, Ark., but was forced on account of ill health to seek a more favorable climate. Coming thence to California, Dr. Prather remained in Los Angeles six months, and then located in Oakland, where he remained in active practice until February, 190 1. Coming to Bakers- field at that time, the doctor has since been in continuous practice here, and has been very suc- cessful, his specialty being diseases of women, in which he exhibits rare skill. In 1879 Dr. Prather married Gertrude Meredith, who died six months after their marriage. Politically he is a straightforward Democrat, and while a resident of Arkansas took a prominent part in public affairs. He was surgeon-general of the state for six years. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the American Medical Association, to the Alameda County Medical Association and to the Kern County Medical As- sociation. Dr. Prather is a man of good financial ability, and has acquired considerable valuable property, owning a ranch in Fresno county, and real estate in Bakersfield.