1905 History of Crawford County Kansas

Dr. L. H. Thurston, who is engaged in the practice of veterinary surgery at Girard, is a native son of Kansas, his birth having occurred in Labette county on the 20th of July, 1872. He is a son of David C. and Christina (Bybey) Thurston, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Missouri. Mr. David C. Thurston is still living, occupying the home farm in Labette county, but his wife passed away on the 11th of June, 1878.

At the usual age Dr. Thurston became a student in the public schools and acquired his literary education in Labette county. He afterward went to California, where he worked on a ranch of five thousand acres devoted to the cultivation of grain. After three years and a half, however, he returned to Parsons, Kansas, and was employed on the railroad for one year. Having in the meantime determined to devote his energies to the practice of veterinary surgery, he then entered the Ontario Veterinary College in 1902, and the following year was graduated from that institution, completing the course on the 26th of March, 1903. On the 29th of the same month he came to Girard and began practicing. On the 12th of January, 1904, he purchased two lots and a barn, remodeled the latter and transformed it into a first-class hospital for veterinary practice. This is the only establishment of the kind in Crawford county, and Dr. Thurston is enjoying an excellent patronage which is continually increasing.

On the 10th of May, 1903, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Thurston and Miss Florence Edna Allison, a daughter of John and Emma Allison. Her father came to this county about thirty years ago, and is now one of the most extensive stock-raisers and landowners of this portion of the state, having five hundred acres of valuable land. Mrs. Thurston is a member of the Methodist church, and the Doctor belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Girard, while his political allegiance is given to the Republican party.