Dr. D. Port Smythe

D. Port Smythe was a pioneer physician in Lockhart from Alabama who studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. During the Civil War he served as a surgeon with the Texas Mounted Rifles and Cavalry on the Texas frontier and in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Indian Territory. Typical of Texas Confederates, his letters home showed concern for his wife and children and contained instructions on teaching a child to read, crops, plowing, animal care, fences, and debt collection. In 1871 he became professor of chemistry at Galveston Medical College. From 1879 to 1882 he served as physician at A&M College, the first to serve full time in any Texas college or university.

Lockhart, Texas · United States