William Graham Shaw, M. D.

William Graham Shaw, M.D.

Representing the third generation of the Shaw family to be well known in medical circles of Scotland County, Dr. William Graham Shaw, of Wagram, has practiced his profession in this community for more than a quarter of a century. Incomplete indeed would be any history of North Carolina without distinctive mention of that large body of men who labor in the broad field of medical service. Some have chosen a particular path and some work under particular combinations of method, but all can be justly credited with scientific knowledge and a due regard for the preservation of the public health, together with a faithful devotion to their own patients that has, on occasion, been heroic. To the profession of medicine Doctor Shaw early devoted his energies, and after an honorable and successful practice of twenty-five years stands as a representative of all that is best and highest in this line of human endeavor.

William Graham Shaw is a member of a very old and prominent family of Scotland and Richmond counties, and was born in 1868, in Spring Hill Township, Scotland (then Richmond) County, North Carolina, his parents being Doctor Daniel and Mary E. (Purcell) Shaw. His grandparents were Alexander and Sarah (Mcintosh) Shaw, the former of whom came from Scotland to North Carolina in the early part of the nineteenth century. He settled in that portion of the County of Richmond that now forms Scotland County, on a farm in Spring Hill Township, and there his descendants have lived continuously to the present time. Sarah Mcintosh was a member of an older Scotch family that had come here about the time of the Revolutionary war. There were three sons in the grandparents' family: Doctor Daniel; Maj. John D., of Rockingham, who was one of the notable lawyers of his day and generation; and Hon. Angus, an agriculturist and merchant of Maxton, who represented his district in the North Carolina Legislature. A brother of Alexander Shaw was Dr. Angus Shaw, who came to North Carolina at the same time as Alexander, and who became one of the prominent practicing physicians of Richmond County, thus making three generations of physicians in this family who have followed their profession in the same community.

Dr. Daniel Shaw was born in Spring Hill Township in 1830, and early displayed a predilection for the medical profession. After some preparation he entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated with his degree in 1855, and when he left the noted Philadelphia institution returned to his home community and at once began practice. When the war between the states came on he did not go to the front, as the women and children needed his services at home, but in various ways the doctor contributed to the cause of the Gray. His practice extended over a period of more than a half century, dating from the time that he traveled all over the countryside mounted on his favorite horse, with his drugs, his herbs and his instruments in his saddle-bags. He belonged to the old-time type of physician who believed that it was their stern and unswerving duty to minister to the ills of humanity regardless of station, careless of recompense. He became greatly beloved all over this part of the country, and when his death occurred, in 1906, there were left many to mourn him. With the passage of the years Doctor Shaw kept pace with the advancements made in his profession, but he never lost the kindly spirit, the love for humanity, that had characterized his earliest practice. His devotion to his calling was absolute and its ethics to him, inviolate.

Doctor Shaw married Mary E. Purcell, who was born in Robeson County, North Carolina, and died at the family home in Spring Hill Township in 1900. She was a daughter of Alexander Torrey and Harriet (Macintyre) Purcell. Her great-grandfather, Malcolm Purcell emigrated from Ulster, North Ireland, about 1750 and settled in Cumberland County, North Carolina, where the City of Fayetteville now stands. The Purcells were of old Scotch stock and had left Scotland and had settled in the north of Ireland during the oppressive reign of King James. Alexander Torrey Purcell was the son of John Purcell. The wife of Alexander Torrey, Harriet MacIntyre, was the daughter of Rev. John MacIntyre. Concerning this pioneer Scotch Presbyterian preacher of North Carolina something more than passing mention should be made. He was remarkable both for his mental and physical strength. He came from Appin, Ayrshire, Scotland, to North Carolina, in 1792, first settling in the western part of Cumberland County and later in the northern part of what is now Hoke County. He acquired a large tract of land, 3,500 acres, and gave it the name "New Garden." He lived to be one hundred and three years old. After he had celebrated his hundredth birthday he dedicated old Montpelier Church in what is now Hoke County. He retained his mental and physical powers almost perfectly until after he had passed the century mark and could easily read without glasses up to the time of his death. His work as a minister was largely as a missionary to the Indians and the pioneer settlers over a large expanse of territory in both North and South Carolina. He would preach at regular intervals at places far remote from each other. In those settlements that were entirely Scotch he would preach sermons in pure Gaelic as well as in English. It is said that he acquired a proficient knowledge of both Latin and Hebrew after he was thirty-five years of age. It was of such men that the Old Testament writer spoke when he said : "There were giants in those days."

William Graham Shaw completed his academic education in the high school in Spring Hill Township, and began his medical studies under the preceptorship of his father. He had inherited the family love for the profession, in which he made rapid progress, and eventually entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1892. At that time he returned immediately to Spring Hill Township, and here has since been engaged in the practice of his profession, his home being in the old Shaw community about two miles west of the present Town of Wagram. This is a new town which has grown to importance within the very few last years, and Doctor Shaw has taken a leading part in its upbuilding and development. After so long and faithful performance of professional duties, during which he has ever upheld the standard of professional ethics, Doctor Shaw may feel somewhat gratified to know that he is held in high esteem by other members of the fraternity and that they number him with the ablest physicians in a community in which medical ability has reached a high point. That this is true is shown in the fact that since 1908 Doctor Shaw has served in the capacity of president of the Scotland County Medical Society. In addition to caring for a large and representative practice he is much interested in all local affairs and is prominent as well in business circles, being vice president and a director of the Bank of Wagram and senior member of the firm of Shaw & MacLean, druggists.

Doctor Shaw married Miss Mary C. Cooley, who was born in the Spring Hill community, a member of an old and well known family, and a daughter of James L. and Frances (Johnson) Cooley. To this union there have been born two children: Mary Elizabeth and William Graham, Jr.

Source: History of North Carolina, Vol. VI, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York ©1919