Dr W. O. Hearn
My mother, Lela Frances Cooper, was married to my father, George
Dewey Duncan, on December 4, 1921, in the small community of
Mt. Joy, Texas. The minister was one Rev. McClain, who performed many such marriages in the community during that period.
At the time of their wedding, my mother was only 15, and my
father was aged 22. That marriage produced three children -- a
daughter, (Gladys) Florine Duncan, on December 5, 1922 -- and
two sons -- me (the middle child), and my younger brother, Noel
DeWayne Duncan, on January 25, 1930.
In those days, and especially in that part of Texas, most
children were born at home, with or without the country doctor
in attendance. Many times, a neighborhood wife would do what
had to be done -- but, in my case, luckily, I came into this
world with the assistance of a wonderful country doctor whom I
knew only as Dr. Hearn. I later found out his full name was Dr.
William Oliver Hearn.
My grandparents lived on what was called "black land", and there was no such thing as a paved road then. But come rain or come shine, hot or cold, Dr. Hearn always came when called. However, since there were no telephones then, in order to "call" the doctor, you had to ride a mule or horse the six miles to his office and hope you would find him in!
Sometimes, he would be out on another call, so you'd have to leave him a note explaining the situation, and he would show up as soon as he possibly could. Many times, the weather was so bad, even a horse or mule couldn't make it through, and he would actually walk to where he was needed. To my knowledge, he never refused a call to help a patient.
I was born on November 2, 1924, at the farm home of my grandparents, M.C. (MacDaniel Commodore) and Essie (K) Cooper, in Mt. Joy, not far from the North Sulphur River, which made up the northern boundary of Delta County, Texas.
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