Dr. John B. Thruston. How to retain health, which is the most precious gift of nature, and how to regain it when lost, are matters of vital moment. Some seek for health in travel, others in physical recreation, and both are, no doubt, beneficial, but they do not always accomplish the object in view. Medical science must be resorted to, and in every case the best physicians employed. Among those whose reputation as a first-class physician has been recognized in a very flattering degree in this part of the State is Dr. John B. Thruston, who is one of the oldest medical experts in Southwestern Missouri. He was born in Greenville, S. C., March 30, 1815, and came with his parents to Morgan County, Mo., in 1833. He is the son of Street and Lottie (Gowen) Thruston, both natives of South Carolina. The father was a farmer by occupation, was among the first settlers of Morgan County, and died in 1859, at the age of seventy years. The mother died in South Carolina, at the age of forty years. The father was a member of the Baptist Church. Dr. John B. Thruston attained his growth on the farm, and at the age of twenty-one years commenced the study of medicine at Columbia, Boone Co., Mo. He began to practice in Versailles, Mo., in 1836, and in the spring of the following year graduated at the Transylvania University, at Lexington Ky. Here he has continued the practice of his profession ever since, and has been a leading citizen. He was married June 29, 1837, to Miss Nancy R. Walton, a native of Tennessee, and the daughter of Josiah S. Walton, a pioneer of Morgan County. Mrs. Thruston died January 22, 1886, at the age of sixty-nine years. The Doctor and wife were parents of five children: James S., now judge of the probate court of Morgan County; Virginia, wife of James McNair, now circuit clerk of Morgan County; Ella, wife of Dr. G. M. Gunn, of Versailles; Flora B., wife of L. B. Hawks, a farmer of this county, and Cora, wife of J. W. Martin, of Versailles. Dr. Thruston and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he is a member of the A. F. & A. M. organization. He has a large practice, as he has ever had, and in early days frequently rode horseback from Saline and Cooper Counties south to Osage River, and east and west through Miller and Benton Counties. He has been out in all kinds of weather, has experienced many hardships, and is now a man of remarkable activity and strength. He is a Democrat in his politics, and is the owner of considerable town property.
History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries and Osage Counties, Missouri, Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.