Dr. Alvah Negus 1866-1934

NEGUS, WEBER, ZWICKEY

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 4/24/2018 at 17:55:06

26 April 1934 - West Branch Times

Dr. Alvah Negus, age 67, died on Sunday April 15, at his home in Keswick from a disease, encephalitis, which he contracted while in the service of the army during the World war. For more than 15 years, he has suffered from this dreaded disease, which is comparatively recent in this country. Since the first of the year, his condition has been critical and for the last three months he was bed fast.

Dr. Negus was born in Springdale, a Quaker community, in 1866, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Negus, who were Quakers. He attended the Springdale school and later attended Penn college in Oskaloosa. For a number of years he did social service work, having established the Young Men's Christian association in Mason City and in Arkansas City, Kansas.

When a boy, he became acquainted with Cora Weber of Corning, who visited a friend in Springdale. Their friendship developed into a romance and the two later were married in Corning during the time that Mr. Negus was in the Y.M.C.A. work in Mason City. This was in 1894.

Both aspired to become physicians, so they entered the University of Iowa medical college together and studied together to be graduated in the class of 1906. They then purchased the practice of a Keswick physician, Dr. Ira F. Cameron, and the young couple was known to the residents of the Keswick community as Drs. Alvah and Cora Negus.

Dr. Negus enlisted in the medical service early in the year 1917, before the United States entered the World war. The Keokuk county physician expected immediate service in France but was not called until later in the year, although he was one of the first physicians in the state to enter the service. He was sent to Fort Riley, Kans., where he was in charge of the contagious disease hospital. It was at this time that spinal meningitis was common in the army and with the epidemic of this disease came encephalitis, a new disease to the medical world at this time, particularly in this country.

He became ill, while at Fort Riley, but physicians thought that it was nothing serious, and immediately after he was thought to be recovered, he received his call to go to France, where he was located at the American Expeditionary force base hospital number 131. During his service in France he suffered with the disease in a minor form, but after he was discharged from service he gradually became weaker, and death finally claimed him.

Drs. Negus were the parents of one son, Harold, whom they adopted. Until three months ago, when he was called home because of the critical condition of his father, he studied music in New York City. Dr. Alvah Negus has one brother, Ed Negus of Springdale and one sister, Mrs. Lillie Zwickey of Detroit, Mich. living.

The funeral services were held Thursday morning at 10:00 o'clock from the Methodist Protestant church in Keswick, under the direction of the Rev. R. V. Pike of Mount Pleasant. The body was taken to Corning at sunset for burial.