Obituary Dr. James Bower Conger Contributed by Jean Caddel   Dr. Conger was a man who, by horseback or buggy, at all times of day or night and in all types of weather, provided medical services to citizens of Ellis County from about 1870 until shortly before his death in 1889. He was born in 1831 and was descended from a long line of physicians. He came to Texas in the early1850s to homestead land in Johnson County. He married Mary Caroline Mitchell (daughter of David and Eliza Mitchell) in 1853. His early practice was apparently in Johnson County and during the War years the family lived in Freestone County while he served as a surgeon in Parker's Brigade. The Conger home in Ellis County was one and one-half miles southeast of Red Oak. A small hexagon-shaped building was erected in the yard to serve as his apothecary shop. Dr. Conger's home with its flowers and white paling fence was considered a showplace in its day. He is said to have developed a black rose. He was an inventive man who fashioned jewelry for his wife and daughter and an advanced brace for a crippled granddaughter. The area covered by this physician on horseback, or in a two-wheeled cart, was north of Red Oak to Bear Creek, west to Ovilla and Shiloh, east to Ferris and south to Grove Creek. He often took his wife along as a nurse. His interest in new inventions resulted in his buying any kind of new washing device he heard of and his wife owned the first sewing machine in the area. It was not uncommon for her to look out in the morning and see a woman and her children arriving in a wagon or buggy. Women would buy material to supply all the family, cut it out at home and bring it to Mrs. Conger's home to sew. This meant several more persons to feed and more children underfoot. Often, families would bring a patient to stay in the Conger home until he or she was well enough to be cared for adequately at home. Apparently, Mrs. Conger's patience, adaptability and genuine concern for helping others matched the qualities so evident in the life of her husband. [Source: A Memorial and Biographical History of Ellis County, Texas, Lewis Pub. Co., Chicago, 1892, with additions pub. by Ellis County Historical Museum and Art Gallery, Inc. Waxahachie, Texas]   Copyright © 1999-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:20:20 MDT