1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Dr. William T. Embree is recognized as being in the foremost rank of dentists of Pittsburg and southeastern Kansas, where, during a residence of about seven years, he has come into possession of a large and profitable practice, built up entirely on the basis of practical skill, thorough knowledge, and progressive and energetic prosecution of all departments of his work. Coming to Pittsburg with a fine theoretical equipment obtained from study in one of the best schools of the country and also from practical experience, Dr. Embree was not long in proving his class and ability, and since then his practice has been limited only by his capacity for attending to it.

Dr. Embree was born at Moberly, Randolph county, Missouri, in 1870. His parents were C. and Savanna (Bunnell) Embree, and his father, a native of Missouri, and by trade a carpenter, has for many years been a merchant, and, with his wife, who was born in Kentucky, now living in Jasper county, Missouri.

Dr. Embree's primary education was obtained in the Moberly public schools, and he took the course and graduated at the State Normal School at Kirksville, Missouri, in 1889. Then, at the age of nineteen, he began teaching school, and for two years was principal of the school at Ianthe, Missouri. He began his preparation for the dental profession as a student in the Western Dental College at Kansas City, and in April, 1896, graduated from the Anatomical department of that institution. The first impression that one forms concerning Dr. Embree is that he is progressive and ambitious, and his desire for advancement and high attainment in the work which he had chosen for a life occupation led him to attend the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in 1897. The Ohio College of Dental Surgery is the dental department of the University of Cincinnati, and is the second oldest dental college in the United States and has turned out many of the most noted dentists of the country. While attending these professional schools Dr. Embree filled up his vacation periods by practicing at different places, principally at Caney, Kansas, and at Dallas, Texas, where he passed the examination of the state board of dentistry and was licensed to practice. After finishing at Cincinnati he practiced for a time under a preceptor at Lamar, Missouri, and early in 1898 he located in Pittsburg. Here he has built up a practice that keeps him constantly busy, and he receives patients from some of the leading physicians of the city, who have the utmost faith in his skill and ability. He earnestly works for the maintaining of the profession of dentistry on a high ethical plane, and he deprecates any tendency that would lower the dignity of dentistry, which he rightly holds should he recognized by law and public opinion as in the same class with medicine and surgery. He maintains that dentistry will eventually embrace more of the physician's and the surgeon's work than even it does now, and thus its requirements and standards will be raised. He himself keeps thoroughly in touch with the growth of the science, and directs his influence and efforts not only for the increase of his own skill and advantage but for the progress and betterment of the profession in general. Dr. Embree is a Mason, and highly esteemed as a citizen and social factor.