Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3307father of Doctor Lingo likewise bore the name of Robert and he passed hisentire life in Virginia. The mother of the Doctor is still living in AccomacCounty. After the death of her first husband she became the wife of FrancisAshmead, who likewise is deceased. She was born in Northampton County,Virginia, and is a daughter of Dr. Michael R. Matthews, who received hisprofessional education in the medical department of the University of Georgiaand who became one of the leading physicians of Northampton County. Virginia, where he passed the residue of his life. Maria, the wife of DoctorMatthews, was a daughter of Captain Thomas Mister, who was a sea captain.The maternal grandfather of Doctor Matthews was born in England and borethe name of Barlow, this ancestor having become one of the early settlers inthe Virginia County of Northampton: he was a man of wealth and influenceand his religious zeal and liberality were significantly manifested when heindividually contributed the money for the erection of an Episcopal (orChurch of England) Church edifice at Bridgetown, Virginia, besides settingapart 600 acres of land from his estate to provide for the support of thischurch and parish. The edifice, a brick structure, is still standing and in usefor the purpose for which it was built and consecrated, while beneath itsancient altar rest the remains of its honored founder.Doctor Lingo is indebted to the public schools of Virginia for his earlyeducational discipline, which was supplemented by a course in Baltimore,Maryland, his native county being one of the two Virginia counties that constitute the peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the Marylandmainland. In preparation for his chosen profession he entered the BaltimoreUniversity School of Medicine, and in this institution he was graduated onthe 21st of April, 1903, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. His chiefpreceptor was Dr. John D. Blake, of Baltimore, a physician of distinction inthe medical world. Four years thereafter he was associated in practice withDr. Joseph E. Clagett, of Baltimore. In 1904 he succeeded Doctor Clagettas local surgeon in Baltimore for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, a position ofwhich he continued the incumbent until 1907. "Within his three years' service as surgeon for this railroad he was primarily instrumental in establishingon its lines its present effective service of "first aid to the injured."In 1907 Doctor Lingo resigned his position with the Baltimore & Ohio 'Railroad Company and went to the national metropolis, where he did effectivepost-graduate work in the New York Lying-in Hospital and the New YorkPost-Gra.duate School of Medicine. In August of the same year he establishedhis permanent residence in the City of Atlanta, where he has since beenengaged in active and successful practice as a physician and surgeon andwhere his enthusiasm, earnestness and abil'' T have gained him distinctiveprestige.In 1908 Doctor Lingo became one of the o, 'zers of the Hospital MedicalCollege of Atlanta and he was not, only a mei . ? of its original faculty butalso became its dean. In 1911 he organized the Southern College of Medicineand Surgery, in which he became dean'of the faculty and professor of surgery.In 1909 the Doctor established the Atlanta Red Cross Hospital, at 201 Capital Avenue, and in 1910 he incorporated this institution, of which be becamethe president. In the same year he established in connection with the hospital a training school for nurses. In 1911 the hospital was removed to itspresent well equipped and finely appointed quarters, at 88 Cooper Street,and in 1913 its corporate title was changed to the Dr. William Bernard LingoHospital, the institution having fifty rooms and the most modern scientific,sanitary and general appliances. At the hospital Doctor Lingo has generouslyprovided a daily free clinic for the benefit of the poor.In the Masonic fraternity Doctor Lingo has received the thirty-seconddegree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and he is also affiliated with theIndependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America,