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HENRY C. ADDERLY, M. D. The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose success has been worthily achieved and whose prominence is not the less the result of an irreproachable life than of natural talents and acquired ability in the field of his chosen labor. Dr. Adderly occupies a position of distinction as a representative of the medical profession at Chester, Illinois, and the best evidence of his capability in the line of his chosen work is the large patronage which is accorded him. It is a well known fact that a great percentage of those who enter business life meet with failure or only a limited measure of success. This is usually due to one or more of several causes - superficial preparation, lack of close application or an unwise choice in selecting a vocation for which one is not fitted. The reverse of all this has entered into the success which Dr. Adderly has gained. His equipment for the profession was unusually good and he has continually extended the scope of his labors through the added efficiency that comes from keeping in touch with the marked advancement that has been made by the members of the medical fraternity in the last half century.
A native of Missouri, Dr. Adderly was born at Hannibal, that state, on the 24th of June, 1854, and he is a son of Rev. Joseph and Hannah (Peters) Adderly, both of whom are now deceased. The father was born at Waterford, Ireland, in 1816, and he accompanied his parents to the United States when but seventeen years of age. He grew to maturity in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where his father, William Adderly, was long engaged as a shoe merchant. Rev. Joseph Adderly had two other brothers who entered the ministry of the Episcopal church, namely_John, who passed away at Pittsburg; and William, whose demise occurred at Des Moines, Iowa. Rev. Joseph Adderly was educated at Pittsburg and he entered the Episcopal ministry as a young man. Prior to the inception of the Civil war he had charge of a church at Hannibal, Missouri, but before the actual outbreak of the rebellion he returned to Pittsburg, whence he later removed to Newcastle, Pennsylvania. He came to Chester, Illinois, in 1876, and was pastor of the Episcopal church here at the time of his death, in 1877. He married
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Miss Hannah Peters, who was born and reared in England and who came with her parents to America. Mrs. Adderly was summoned to the life eternal at Chester, Illinois, in 1892, and she is survived by four children, as follows, Agnes E. is the wife of Samuel Barney, of Elkhart, Indiana; Elizabeth is the wife of George Whaley, of East Orange, New Jersey; Dr. Henry C. is the immediate subject of this review; and Alice M. is a professional nurse in New York city.
Owing largely to the nature of his father's work, Dr. Adderly grew up and received his early educational training at different points between Pittsburg and the Mississippi river. As a young man he was engaged in teaching in country schools for a brief period and in 1872 he was matriculated as a student in the St. Louis Medical College, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1875, at the early age of twenty-one years. After leaving college he located at Kemper, Illinois, where he remained for a period of two years, at the expiration of which he established his professional headquarters at Chester, where he has since maintained his home. Some years subsequent to graduation Dr. Adderly returned to his alma mater for postgraduate work, and with the passage of time he has had a number of important articles published in various prominent medical journals. In connection with his life work he is a valued and appreciative member of the Randolph County Medical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. During his thirty-five years connection with the medical profession Dr. Adderly has gained expert knowledge in the various branches of his life work and he is recognized as one of the best physicians and surgeons in Randolph county. He has been surgeon for the Southern Illinois penitentiary for four years, for eight years was secretary of the United States pension board at Chester and has also served as county physician. At the present time, in 1911, he is serving his fifth term as mayor of Chester and his administrations have witnessed the introduction of many improvements for the good of this place, the same including granitoid walks, the erection of a city water works and the installation of the fire department. But few business enterprises have attracted Dr. Adderly`s interest, although he joined the promoters of the Chester Knitting-mill Company about 1904 and took stock in that concern.
On the 24th of October, 1878, Dr. Adderly was united in marriage to Miss Della Wassell, a daughter of Charles Wassell, a representative of one of the old families of Randolph county. Dr. and Mrs. Adderly have four children, Joseph C. married Miss Gertrude Morris and they reside at St. Louis, Missouri; Lola D. is the widow of Charles D. Luke and she maintains her home at Nashville, Illinois; William H. is in the employ of the Iron Mountain Railway Company at Chester; and Miss Bessie remains at the parental home.
Dr. Adderly is a stalwart Republican in his political proclivities and he has ever manifested a keen interest in all matters affecting the welfare of that organization. He has been a delegate to numerous state conventions and represented his district in the Philadelphia National Convention, which nominated William McKinley for a second term. In fraternal circles the Doctor is prominent as an Odd Fellow, an Elk and a Knight of Honor. While he is not actively identified with church work he is in strong sympathy with the aims of all religious bodies and contributes liberally to various charitable movements. His citizenship has ever been characterized by loyalty and public spirit of the most insistent order and as a man he is affable and sympathetic.