Doctor J. T. Welch

J. T. Welch, M. D ., is a short, solidly built Negro. He has a rather nervous laugh, and speaks with scarcely a trace of dialect. He is good natured and willing to talk. His office, at 209 Park Street, is nicely furnished. "You want my story?" he asked. "Well, I'll do my best."

I was born in Carrolton, Dallas County, Texas, in 1880. There was twelve boys and two girls in our family. My mother and father were slaves. My father's name was Ned Welch . He was from Kentucky. I don't remember my mother's maiden name. Her first name was Elizabeth , and she came from Tennessee. Their folks brought them to Dallas before the war. I think their folks name was Gino . I don't remember much of my father. He died when I was four years old. When the slaves were freed, my father bought a one-hundred and fifty acre farm in Dallas County. My mother used to tell things about the old times, mostly about the Reconstruction, and the Ku Klux.  You caught me off my base and I can't think of any of the stories. I remember my mother told about a man during those times. The Ku Klux didn't allow anybody to have guns. This man had a pistol in his house. He was sitting down churning and he saw some Ku Klux coming with their white sheets on. He got that gun and dropped it in the churn and the Ku Klux searched the house and didn't find the gun. "I went to school in Carrolton until I was through the sixth. I was sixteen years old. I went to Dallas and worked my way through high school. Everybody was free with what they had then and I stayed with some friends about two weeks. I got a job with an old doctor, then. I took care of a horse and buggy, and two cows and cut wood. The doctor paid me a dollar a week, and I always had a nickle for Sunday School. I wish I could keep money that long in my pocket now.  I don't know how long I've wanted to be a doctor. The first doctor I had any dealings with was when I was six years old. I fell off a horse and broke my arm. The doctor put me about half asleep and tried to set it. See, it's still crooked. It sure did hurt.

After I finished high school in 1903, I went to Howard University in Washington, D. C. In those days, you could work for a medical degree without extra college training. I went back to Dallas and started practice. I'm a general practitioner. I came to Wichita Falls in 1919. For a while I had a drugstore and an office on Lake Street. I've been here (209 Park Street) about three years. I'm married the second time, and I've had three children. The two girls are living now. When they was young they was going to do great things. The boy that died was going to be a doctor. The oldest girl was going to be a pharmacist and the youngest girl was going to be a nurse. One of my girls has an A.B. from Wiley College, Marshall, Texas. She is teaching mathematics in Naples, Texas. The other is in junior college in Duluth, Minnesota. She says she's going to be a nurse when she gets around to it.