Pensacola Medical Heritage in St. John's Historic
Cemetery
Dr. Walter Clifton
Payne, Sr.
Physician and Surgeon; Outstanding Local and State
Medical Leader;
Innovative Force in Developing Hospitals, Blood Bank, Nursing School
and Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Dr. Payne was born in Luverne, Alabama, in 1889 and attended the University
of Alabama, Tulane University Medical School and then did post-graduate work at
Cornell University and the New York Post Graduate School. He served in World War
I as a naval lieutenant, beginning his practice in Pensacola prior to the war.
Dr. Payne was quickly noted for both his medical and administrative skills.
His practice became large (as a physician and surgeon) and in company with
several other physicians and local business leaders participated in the
successful invitation to the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in
bringing what became Sacred Heart Hospital to the community in 1916. In a
similar vein a quarter century later Dr. Payne served as chairman of the
Advisory Council to the Florida Development Commission in the late 1940s when
that commission first had funds to distribute for new hospital construction. Dr.
Payne’s work there enabled Baptist Hospital of Pensacola to obtain the state’s
first such grant, thus enabling the hospital’s directors to proceed with
construction.
In the field of health care Dr. Payne became known as the local “dean”
because of his prominence. Through a career which spanned more than sixty years
here, he had leadership positions with the TB Association, the American Heart
and Cancer Associations, Blue Shield of Florida, the Gulf Coast Clinical
Society, the Florida Receiving Home, the Florida and American Medical
Associations, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, and the Visiting
Nurses Association. Dr. Payne was one of the founders of the Escambia County
Blood Bank, and was instrumental in establishment of both the Sacred Heart and
Pensacola Junior College schools of nursing. He was a president of the Escambia
County Medical Society, and over time held many major committee and
administrative assignments there. He was instrumental in development of the
Florida Vocational Rehabilitation Service, and was honored as a life member of
the medical staff at Baptist Hospital and the surgical staff at Sacred Heart.
Beyond medicine, Walter Payne was the 1929-30 president of the Rotary Club,
was named as a Kiwanis Club Honoree of the Year, and participated broadly in
affairs of the YMCA. He also served for years in the councils of Community
Chest, United Fund and United Way.
Dr. Payne was married to the former Vivian Ballard of Troy, Alabama. The
couple had one son, Dr. Walter Payne, Jr., and one daughter Vivian Patricia
Halperen. Just before the onset of the Depression, the Paynes built their fine
home on North Spring Street. This was a Tudor style house, erected on the site
of Ft. San Bernardo which itself had been raised in 1781. Dr. Walter Clifton
Payne, Sr. was buried in St. John's Cemetery 2 North Section 25.
Juriah Harris Pierpont, M.D.
Outstanding Pensacola Physician and son of Composer of
Jingle Bells
James Lord Pierpont composer of Jingle Bells was from New England but
settled in Savannah, Georgia. He was a songwriter, similar to Stephen Foster. He
wrote Jingle Bells, dreaming of a snowy Christmas of childhood, after he
moved to Georgia.
Born to J. L. Pierpont and his second wife Eliza Jane Purse in Savannah,
Georgia, on February 25, 1864, Juriah Harris Pierpont had early schooling in
Georgia, moved to central Florida as a teenager and worked there as a rail
station agent. He began medical training at the Medical College of Virginia in
Richmond, graduating in March of 1888 at which time he began internship at the
Richmond City Almshouse Hospital. Because of his mother's illness, he moved to
Winter Haven and then on to Pensacola on October 25, 1888. Dr. Pierpont
associated with Dr. C. R. Oglesby shortly after arriving in Pensacola.
On August 21, 1894, Dr. Pierpont and Lucy Penelope Warren were married. She
was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Fuller Warren. Mr. Warren was a founder
and president of the Warren Fish Company, which was a major supplier of red
snapper and grouper to the U.S. The Pierpont's first child, Frances Tracy lived
only a day. Margery became a librarian; Florence Frances (Sal) married Lt. M. M.
Marple, Jr in 1928 and they had two daughters, Constance Rust and Margery
Pierpont. The Pierpont's also had a son, Andrew Warren who married Glendene
Stuart in 1932.
When Dr. Pierpont began his practice in Pensacola there was no organized body
of doctors so, in 1888 the Pensacola Medical Society was formed with about ten
members, becoming president. By 1902 he began his third term as president of the
Florida Medical Association.
Dr. Pierpont was appointed to the legislative committee and served for many
years, and with several thwarted attempts, managed to get an examining board
established to certify doctors. In 1894, he was appointed assistant surgeon for
the Pensacola division of the Louisville and Nashville Railway, a position he
retained until 1935 when he was made District Surgeon.
Among the offices Dr. Pierpont held were President of the Pensacola Medical
Society, the Escambia Medical Society, and the Surgical Staff of Pensacola
Hospital. He was also City Physician and Health Officer for six years around the
time of the 1905 yellow fever epidemic.
Dr. Pierpont had the opportunity to travel to European hospitals and
developed contacts with shippers to act as their local doctor in Pensacola.
On October 1, 1940, Dr. Pierpont retired from active practice but when he
submitted his resignation to the L & N Railway, he was asked to retain the title
of Consulting Physician which he did. Dr. Pierpont died at age 79 on May 23,
1943. Juriah Harris Pierpont, M.D. was buried in St. John's Cemetery 2 North
Section 19.
Carol C. Webb, M.D.
Beloved Physician/Surgeon, was a pioneer in multispecialty
practice and leader in Pensacola
"Doctor Webb" was the quintessential friend/physician-surgeon, and
medical/community leader who always gave a sense of authority, competence and
good will. Carol C. Webb was born March 31, 1895, in Albany, Ohio; he was
educated there. He graduated from Ohio State University's School of medicine in
1918 and he did his residency at Grant Hospital and Children's Hospital in
Columbus.
During World War I, as a lieutenant in the Naval Medical Corps he was
stationed at the Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C., and then transferred to the
Naval hospital in Pensacola. Webb married a local girl, Eulalie Hutchinson and
after leaving Pensacola briefly, he returned in1922 and set up practice in the
Blount Building where many physicians and dentists had their offices. Although
Webb had trained to be a surgeon, there was little opportunity for most doctors
in Pensacola to limit their practices to just their specialty. X-rays studies
were done at the public health department and lab work often had to be sent out
of town.
Webb began talks with other doctors in the Blount Building about his idea for
a multispecialty practice. At first, talks were among Drs. Eddie Mock, Bill
Hixon and Webb; later, they included Drs. Alvyn White and C. J. Heinberg. The
specialties included gynecology, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and eye,
ear, nose and throat. A few months later, urologist Dr. Lee Sharp, joined the
group.
The group bought the Jewish Progress Club and in August 1938, the doctors
moved from their Blount Building offices to 24 W. Chase Street. The Medical
Center Clinic opened and soon other physicians joined the group. As the clinic
expanded, in 1954 a new building was built at the 1700 block of North Palafox
Street. In 1975 the clinic moved again to North Davis Highway and to numerous
neighborhood clinics, eventually with more than 180 doctors, representing the
highest level of multispecialty care and medical education. For years, it was
the first or second largest private clinic in Florida. Dr.Webb and his early
colleagues gave inspiration and a very strong base of integrity, high
professional standards and sound organizational structure.
Webb was a member of the Frisco Medical Association and was the division
surgeon for the Frisco Railroad. He was a member of the Pensacola Yacht Club and
was a past president of the Pensacola Country Club. Webb was a member of Kiwanis
and the American, Florida and Escambia County medical associations. Dr.Webb and
his wife had two daughters, Carol and Joyce. He died Dec. 29, 1959, after a long
illness. He's buried at St. John's Cemetery 4 North Section 49.
