Sandidge, James G.

The following data is extracted from A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans.

James G. Sandidge. In the colonial history of the United States may be found frequent mention of names that are familiar and even distinguished at present throughout the great Middle West. They ring with achievement as in the old days, and although generations have passed since their first bearers lived and labored and increased on American soil, the stock is the same and the vigor of the younger branches gives testimony to the strength of the parent root. A long line of notable men have borne the name of Sandidge, from the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, and the early settlement of Charleston, South Carolina. A well known representative of this old and prominent family is found in Dr. James G. Sandidge, surgeon, banker and capitalist, who for almost a quarter of a century has been a foremost citizen of Mulberry, Kansas.

James G. Sandidge was born November 12, 1870, in the City of New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were James G. and Susan K. (Wilson) Sandidge, the former of whom was born at New Orleans in 1840 and is the only surviving child of his parents, Hon. John M. and Mary E. (Gilmer) Sandidge. The grandfather of Doctor Sandidge was born in 1819, in Alabama, and died at New Orleans in 1908. He was reared in Alabama and did not remove to Louisiana until after his marriage. In early years he was a large planter and later in life was a journalist. He was exceedingly active in politics and served as a member of Congress in Louisiana for twenty years preceding the Civil war and subsequently was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. Under Gen. Jubal Early he served four years as colonel of a regiment in the Confederate army, during the war between the states. He married Mary E. Gilmer, a notable name in the South, who was born in Alabama, in 1822, and resides at Bastrop, Louisiana.

The father of Doctor Sandidge has passed his entire life as a resident of New Orleans, where he is a cotton buyer. During the Civil war he was active in military affairs, was captain of a company and was aide-de-camp to General Forrest of the Confederate Army. Politically he has always been affiliated with the democratic party and for some years, through election on that ticket, served as state auditor. He is a member of the order of Knights of Pythias. The mother of Doctor Sandidge was born in Virginia in 1843 and died at New Orleans in 1881. Three children survive: James G.; Sarah, who is the wife of W. M. Patton, a planter and cattle man, at Bastrop, Louisiana; and Fannie A., who is the wife of William M. Taylor, a planter, residing at Bastrop.

James G. Sandidge attended the public schools of St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1884 was graduated from the high school. After a course of study in the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, he entered the medical department of Washington. University and was graduated in 1893 with his medical degree. His preference for surgery led his special studies in that direction, these including post graduate courses in the Chicago Polyclinic and the New York Post Graduate School, and ever since entering into practice in 1893, at Mulberry, he has made a specialty of surgery, one of the few surgeons in the country who confine themselves entirely to this important branch of their profession, his remarkable skill in which has made him widely known.

Doctor Sandidge has many interests aside from his profession. He is vice president and a director of the Miners State Bank, at Mulberry, Kansas; is vice president and a director of Pittsburg State Bank of Pittsburg; is vice president and director of the Mulberry Building and Loan Association, and is president, general manager and owner of the Mulberry Telephone Company. His property interests are large, these including a valuable farm of 140 acres in Crawford County, twenty or more dwellings at Mulberry, and a drug store, his offices and his residence, on Military Avenue, Mulberry.

In this city, in 1896, Doctor Sandidge was married to Miss Florence Miller, and they have one son, Allen, who was born January 20, 1900, who is a student in Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri.

While not particularly active in politics, Doctor Sandidge gives hearty support to the democratic party. Outside his profession he has accepted no public honors but has served as city health officer for the past eight years. He is past master of Mulberry Lodge No. 317, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Fort Scott Consistory No. 6; and a charter member of Mirza Temple, Mystic Shrine, at Pittsburg, Kansas.

Source: A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans

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