James Hamilton Goethe, M.D.

Dr. James Hamilton Goethe (Written for The Guardian) Dr. James H. Goethe was born on the 3d of July, 1833 and died on the 29th of March, 1909. His sixty-five years of life were filled with good deeds and generous impulses, and it is safe to say than no men within the circle of his acquaintance will be more sadly missed than he. As a schoolboy he was a favorite with his school-fellows, his kindly and generous nature endearing him to all brought in contact with him. He received his education at the academy at Gillisonville, under the teacher who made that academy celebrated as an institution of learning. _______ graduated at the Medical College at Charleston, S. C. in 1840. He practiced his chosen profession in Beaufort District in the Cedar Grove neighborhood until the breaking out of the late war between the States. When the war came on he promptly volunteered as a private in the ranks of Kirk's Squadron. His known proficiency as a physician soon caused him to be detailed as acting assistant surgeon; and he performed the duties incident to that position in his quiet, unassuming way for some time. He was then regularly commissioned and sent on to Richmond and assigned to duty in the Howard Grove Hospital at that place. He was subsequently sent to the Smallpox Hospital at Danville, Virginia, and he unhesitatingly assumed this unpleasant and dangerous position without the slightest objection or protest. Later in the war he was assigned for duty on the coast of South Carolina and there remained until the struggle was over. When the war ended he moved back into the Cedar Grove neighborhood, and practiced there until April, 1875, when he located at Varnville, and there remained up to his death. His practice was largely a charitable one, and many a family within his reach will miss his kind and tender ministrations, and mourn the loss of one who had for years been their best friend. His genial nature and his sympathetic feeling endured him to all. His hospitality was proverbial, and all were sure to feel that they would receive a cordial welcome to his hospitable home. His life was a well spent one, and his days filled with works of charity and good will to all. He has fulfilled his mission, and has passed away from us, leaving behind pleasant memories of his kindly nature. "Grown be the turf above thee, Friend of my better days. None knew thee but to love thee None named thee but to praise."

Gravestone indicates Date of Death as 1899. He could not have graduated from Medical School in 1840 if he were born in 1833 (He would only have been seven years of age). ???