Rise of the Medical Profession in the Camellia City BCHGS holds quarterly meeting

BY MOLLIE S. WATERS

The Greenville Standard

 

The Butler County Historical & Genealogical Society (BCHGS) held its quarterly meeting on Sunday at First United Methodist Church (FUMC).

The event opened with a routine business meeting, during which program chair Walt Parmer reminded everyone that Greenville will hold its Fall Tour of Homes on October 15 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The tour of homes will include six historic homes, Pioneer Cemetery, several churches, and other Greenville landmarks. Cost of the tour will be $20 per person.

After the conclusion of the business portion of the meeting, Parmer introduced the program speaker, Louise Stabler Tommie.

Tommie was born and raised in Butler County, and she graduated from Greenville High School in 1956.

Tommie’s program was “Rise of the Medical Profession in the Camellia City.”

Tommie is the granddaughter of Dr. L. V. Stabler, who was one of the city’s most prominent doctors.

Dr. L. V. Stabler graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in medicine in 1897.

After practicing medicine in several other towns for a few years, Stabler and his first wife, Ethel, returned to Greenville in 1901 to raise their family, which included five sons.

Of their five sons, three of them would follow in their father’s footsteps and become doctors in Greenville as well. Three of Dr. L. V. Stabler’s grandsons became doctors, too, including Vernon Stabler, Jr., Aubrey Stabler, Jr., and Paul Stabler.

In addition to sharing her family’s history in the medical field in Greenville, Tommie mentioned other early doctors and nurses who were instrumental in treating the citizens of Butler County.

The BCHGS will meet again on July 31 at 2 p.m. at the FUMC. The guest speaker for that program will be Jim Dunklin, who will talk about the Dunklin’s family history in Greenville.