Dr. A. W. Alcorn
Dr. A. W. Alcorn, Ravenna, was born on the 23d day of May, A. D. 1835. He was the seventh of eight children, six of whom were boys. His father was of Scotch-Irish, and his mother of English and German descent. His parents were farmers, and the first and only farm they owned they cleared up from wild woods in Armstrong County, Penn. The trees, saplings and brush had to be cut down and grubbed out to make room for the first log-cabin. His parents were Old School Presbyterians, and were one of three families who met together for social prayer, from which grew the Concord Presbyterian Church, about one mile from his father's farm. Before the church building was secured his father and mother would attend church at Glade Run, a distance of seven miles, and most of this distance was made along a path through the woods; but any difficulty in the way was alleviated by their going on foot. Sometimes a babe was carried in their arms so that the distance need not be made in haste. On this farm the Doctor began his education. The school year in his boyhood consisted of three months in the winter. This was improved. At this school his second, third and fourth reader was the New Testament, and the fifth and sixth reader was the Bible or Old Testament. When he was eighteen years old, at the urgent solicitation of an older brother. Dr. J. P. Alcorn (now deceased), who had left the farm and by his own energy and self-support had graduated at one of the best medical colleges in the United States, he left home for the first time to enter the Glade Run (Penn.) Academy in 1853; the next year he entered the Eldersridge (Indiana County, Penn.) Academy. This institution was the creation of Rev. Alexander Donaldson, D. D., a noted educator of young men in western Pennsylvania, who, at an old age, is still Principal of the academy. In this academy the Doctor was fitted for the junior class in college. At this time his health broke down and he was obliged to leave school. After a few months' rest he entered the office of his brother, who had built up a large practice in Ravenna, Ohio, for the purpose of studying medicine. His medical education was secured at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Penn., and the Michigan University, Ann Arbor, Mich. He had the benefit of the private and practical instructions of his brother for five years. In 1864 he served four months in the Union Army, was a "squirrel hunter," and volunteered his services at the battle of Gettysburg for the care of the sick and wounded. He married Miss Christina, eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth Fletcher, of Ravenna, Ohio, February 20, 1884. He is a member of the Congregational Church. He first united with the Presbyterian Church in 1852. He is a member of the Board of Education, and has served as such for nine years. He is in hearty sympathy with all reform measures that tend to lift men up to a sober and religious life. His chief desire is to be worthy the name of physician and Christian. He never used tobacco in any form, nor alcoholic drinks as a beverage. He considers the habitual use of tobacco and ardent spirits as the chief obstacles in the way to temporal and spiritual prosperity.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885