8 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ALABAMA 
the University of Pennsylvania and completed his course 
i Paris: 
While in Paris he studied French, sparing no pains in 
becoming proficient in that language. He frequently 
avoided meeting his friends from America, not wishing 
to speak English while striving for fluency in French. 
Just so it was while he was in Italy, Germany and 
Spain, his application was such that he became proficient 
in these languages also. While in Europe he traveled 
in Germany and Switzerland on foot, there studying na- 
ture. 
After his return home he decided to settle for life 
in Marshall, Texas, and there to practice medicine. Af- 
ter a few years, he returned to his old home, “‘Content- 
ment,” near Greensboro, Ala., to visit his mother. Feel- 
ing that it was best to be near her, he did not return to 
Texas, but settled in Selma, Ala., in the early spring of 
1861. 
His office had scarcely been opened, when the signal 
of war sounded. He was filled with enthusiasm. He 
gave up everything and enlisted as a private in Col. N. 
H. R. Dawson’s regiment. 
His lot was never to be in a battle, for like many a 
fellow soldier, he was taken with measles soon after — 
reaching Virginia. He knew nothing of the glories of 
a soldier’s life, only sickness and weariness in the sgol- 
dier’s camp. 
Recovering from the measles he came with his division 
to Dumfries on Ocoquon Creek, Virginia, not far from 
Washington City. There, from fatigue and lack of suit- 
able care and nourishment in his broken down condi- 
tion, he was taken with typhoid fever. That he did not 
die seemed a miracle; but he was saved for other work. 
Through this illness he was incapacitated for the duties 
of a soldier. His furlough and discharge from the army ~ 
were granted and he returned to Greensboro, Ala., where 
he taught school for some time and then resumed the 
practice of medicine. He did not care for town life, but 
always made his home in the country. 
