BIOGRAPHIES

Source: 
Portrait and Biographical History of
Fayette,  Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio.
Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros.
1892
 

	DR. RALPH MORDEN.  Few, perhaps none, save those who have trod the arduous paths of the profession, can picture to themselves the array of attributes, physical, mental and moral, and the host of minor graces of manner and person, essential to the making of a truly successful physician.  His constitution must needs be of the hardiest to withstand the constant shock of wind and weather, the wearing loss of sleep and rest, the ever-gathering load of care, the insidious approach of every form of fell disease to which his daily round of duties momently exposes him.  Such a physician we find in the person of Dr. Ralph Morden, who is one of the oldest homeopathists in Circleville.      The Doctor is a native of London, Ontario, born Aug. 8, 1852, the son of Andrew B. Morden, and the grandson of the Rev. Ralph Morden.  The great-great-grandfather, Ralph Morden, was born in Yorkshire, England, and was a Quaker in his religious views.  He came to America about 1742, and settled in New Jersey or Delaware, where he followed agricultural pursuits.  During the Revolutionary War, he would not fight, and was prosecuted.  The family then moved to Canada, his son John, the grandfather of our subject, being then sixteen years of age.  They located on the present site of Dundas, and received a grant of one thousand acres of land.  Here John grew to manhood, married, and his son Ralph, grandfather of our subject, was the first white child born in Dundas.  The latter had seven brothers and two sisters and each drew two hundred acres of hind in London Township, Middlesex County.  This land was then a wilderness, and they began at once to clear it and make improvements.  Near this is now a city of thirty-five thousand inhabitants.  This made the Mordens nearly all farmers.      Ralph Morden became a Methodist minister and an earnest worker in that church.  He was prominent in his calling and was also a great temperance worker, being an officer in the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars.  He lived to the age of seventy-eight years.  The father of our subject grew to manhood in Canada, but later sold his share of the old site and located in Ridgetown, Ontario, where he lives at the present time.  Although sixty-eight years of age, time has dealt leniently with him, and he is strong and active. The Morden family is a prominent one in Canada, and Mr. Morden is an active member of the Methodist Church, in which he has been Class-leader for years.  He married Miss Elizabeth Brown, a native of Halifax, daughter of William Brown, who was of English-Scotch descent. Grandfather Brown was a ship-builder, which occupation he followed in his native country, England, until his removal to Canada.  Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Morden, five sons and six daughters, all of whom are living.      Our subject was the eldest of this family, and he was reared on the farm and educated in the common schools.  When sixteen years of age, he entered the university at Belleville, Ontario, remained there for some time, and then entered the seminary at Komoka, where he remained for eight months.  At the age of eighteen, he engaged in teaching school, and, as he had from the early age of ten years cherished a desire to study medicine, he entered upon a course of study with Dr. R. J. P. Morden, of London, in 1871, when little past the age of nineteen years.  In the fall of 1873, he entered the Homeopathy Medical College, at New York, and was graduated from that institution in 1875, with the degree of M. D.  He afterward located at Exeter, practiced there for one year, and then, on account of ill-health, having recovered from a severe attack of typhoid fever, he located, in the spring of 1877. in Grove Port, Franklin County, Ohio. where he practiced for about seven years.  He was the lust homeopathic physician in that town. He was married there, in 1879, to Miss Lenora C. Stine, a native of this town.      On the 1st of November, 1883, Dr. and Mrs. Morden located in Circleville, Ohio, and the former bought out Dr. J. C. King and continued the practice.  He is the leading Homeopathic physician in the city, and his ability as a physician and surgeon is well known.  He is located on Court Street, opposite the Opera House.  He is a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars in this place, having joined in 1887, and is a very prominent temperance man.  The Doctor is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.  He has been President of the Central Committee of Pickaway County, and served as Secretary for two years.  In 1889, he was nominated for Representative and ran far ahead of his ticket.  He has been a delegate to the State Convention, and is a member of the Homeopathic Medical Society of the State.  His marriage resulted in the birth of six children: Elizabeth, Fannie, Mary L., Jennie, Ralph (the sixth) and Martha E. Source:  Portrait and Biographical History of Fayette,  Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio. Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 794
John Morris	JOHN MORRIS Source:  Portrait and Biographical History of Fayette,  Pickaway and Madison Counties, Ohio. Publ. Chicago: Chapman Bros. - 1892 - Page 357