John W. Van Osdol, M.D., Allensville, was born May 28, 1845. He was the second son of Nathan A. Van Osdol, one of the earliest settlers of Ohio County. John's schooling consisted in an attendance of a district school for three months out of a year, which privilege he was permitted to enjoy until fifteen years of age, when his health failed him and he found more time for his books, though school privileges were in no measure enlarged. At the opening of the Rebellion, he enlisted for a short time in the service as a private, and after his discharge he returned home and began the study of medicine with Dr. John P. Butz, of Allensville, Ind. After two years he entered the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati, and took his first course of lectures, after which he returned to this instructor, with whom he soon after engaged in the practice of his profession, and in September, 1868, he was married to Miss Sophia O'Downey, and the young physician and his wife concluded to settle in the village where her husband had been a student, and among those who had first seen fit to recognize him in his professional capacity. From that time on his practice rapidly increased, and after several years of unusual success he returned to the Miami College, and completed his course, graduating from that school in 1879. Dr. Van Osdol is now a physician in good standing, and one who, as physician and surgeon, has met with success such as is not usually found in the history of one of his age.
Source: History of Switzerland County, Indiana 1885. Chicago, Illinois: Weakley, Harraman & Co., 1885
Transcribed by: Sheila Kell