Clarence L. Zugg
CLARENCE L. ZUGG, B. S., M. D. - One of the able physicians and surgeons who have provided a due quota in maintaining the high standard of the medical profession in Wyandotte county is Dr. Zugg, who is engaged in successful practice in Kansas City. In view of the wide realm of his profession he has realized the expediency of concentration or intensive work in the same, with the result that he has specialized in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, to which he now devotes practically his entire time and attention and in connection with which his success has been on a parity with his marked success, with incidental high reputation. As one of the representative members of his profession in Wyandotte county he is well worthy of recognition in this history of the county and its people.
Dr. Zugg claims as the place of his nativity the fine old commonwealth of Ohio, as he was born on a farm near the village of Bethel, Clermont county, that state, on the 26th of March, 1874. He is a son of John L. and Ella (Richards) Zugg, both of whom were likewise born in Clermont county, where the respective families made settlement in the pioneer epoch of its history. William Zugg, grandfather of the Doctor, was a native of Pennsylvania, and his parents immigrated to that state from Germany. He was reared to maturity in his native state and as a young man he removed thence to Clermont county, Ohio, where he reclaimed a farm from a virtual wilderness and became one of the representative agriculturists of that section of the Buckeye state. His wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Swing, was a cousin of the distinguished divine, Rev. David Swing, D. D., who so long held the pastorate of the People's church in Chicago and who gained a national reputation as a pulpit orator. Enos Richards, the maternal grandfather of Dr. Zugg, was likewise of German ancestry, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Logan, was a member of the well known Logan family of Kentucky, where she was born and reared. John L. Zugg continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits in Clermont county, Ohio, until his death, at the age of sixty years, and he was one of the honored and influential citizens of his native county, where he ever commanded unqualified popular esteem. His wife, Ella Richards, is now living in Ohio, a Presbyterian in religious affiliation. Dr. Zugg is the eldest of a family of five children, all sons, Rev. Frank R., the next in order of birth, is a clergyman of the Presbyterian church and holds a pastoral charge at Washington, Kansas; Charles R. is a successful educator and resides in Bantam, Ohio; and Clark W., is a student of medicine at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. Clarence L. Zugg laid the foundation for a sound mind in a sound body through his close association with the work of the old homestead farm during the days of his boyhood and early youth, and in the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the district schools of his native county. He applied himself diligently and at the age of twenty-one years he proved himself eligible for the pedagogic profession, which he continued for one year. In 1896, with definite plans as to his future life work, he set his face to the west and at Parkville, Missouri, he entered Park College, in which he completed a course in the academic or literary department and was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, and now has the Degree of Bachelor of Science from the Kansas City University. In preparation for the work of his chosen profession he then came to Kansas City, Kansas, and was matriculated in the College of Physicians & Surgeons, which now constitutes the medical department of the University of Kansas. He completed the prescribed course in this excellent institution, in which he received his coveted and well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine, upon his graduation as a member of the class of 1902. In the spring of the same year he opened an office at Orlando, Oklahoma, where he served his novitiate in the practical work of his profession and where he remained three years. He then returned to Wyandotte county and engaged in active general practice at Argentine, which is now an integral part of Kansas City. There he continued to reside, with ever increasing success in his profession, until 1909, when he removed to the central and original portion of Kansas City and turned his attention to the special treatment of the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In this circumscribed field of practice he has been notably successful, and he admirably fortified himself for his specialty through effective post-graduate courses in the diagnosis and treatment of such disorders, in which connection he availed himself of the advantages of leading medical institutions in the cities of Cincinnati and Chicago. He devoted a year to such post-graduate work, and he has personally done a large amount of research and experimental work along the lines to which he is now devoting his attention. He is a valued and appreciative member of the Wyandotte County Medical Society, the Kansas Golden Belt Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society, besides which he is also identified with the American Medical Association and the Kansas City (Missouri) Academy of Medicine. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has received the degrees of the blue lodge, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church.
