Where the thriving village of Prairieburg now is was a cross road, the northeast corner lying out to commons for years.
The first doctor to locate there was Dr. Young. He drove a little sorrel horse in a light rig with one wheel dished, which made a crooked track, and his disposition was something like the track of his buggy. Following him at this place was Dr. Ellis, who went to that place from Paris.
At Central City after Dr. Patterson came Mitchell, a state of Maine Yankee. At an early date a majority of the people here abouts were from the state of Maine, henceforth the name of Maine township. The Jordans, Friesons, Clarks, Waterhouses, were early settlers from the state of Maine.
Dr. Mitchell was a good doctor and a fine man. Poor fellow, he lost his life by having administered to him by a mistake a teaspoonful of poison when he was to have a tonic.
After his death at Central City the place was filled by Drs. Ristine, Fisher, McTavish, my son, Dwight Sigworth, and Percy, a scientific fellow. This field is now filled by Drs. Fisher and Woodbridge.
Waubeek was in the field of Dr. Love, he going northwest to Nugent's Grove at times. Dear old Dr. Love was a splendid man, a first-class diagnostician and a good physician and surgeon. If he lacked anything it was aggressiveness in surgery.
While at Waubeek I had for co-laborers Drs. Phipps, Scott, Bowers, and Grimm. Bowers tried to commit suicide by taking a teaspoonful of poison which made him very sick, but he ultimately recovered. Dr. Grimm was known as the Dutch doctor.
While I was at Waubeek when the river was high I had a stable on the north side of the river and I used to cross in a skiff to feed my horse and attend to calls on that side.
The north side of the river was all woods for three miles in those days, and my practice was largely on that side. I used to go into Delaware county, and I had a large slice of Jones county. And may I say it, there are some families in that county which have had no doctor but a Sigworth for forty-four years. After fourteen years I sold to Dr. Crawford and then in four years he sold to Dr. Woodbridge, who in ten years moved to Central City. At the present time Dr. Ward is in Waubeek.