R. ROBERT D. DURON, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Bulcher, his knowledge and practical skill being such as to gain him recognition as one of the leading members of the medical fraternity in Cooke county, was born in Hardin county, Tennessee, February 27, 1857, a son of Mannon J. and Susan (Churchwell) Duron, the former a native of Alabama and the latter of Tennessee. The maternal grandfather, Robert A. Churchwell, was a resident of middle Tennessee, where he successfully carried on farming and enjoyed a reputation for business integrity and was unassailable. He not only followed farming, but was likewise a minister of the Primitive Baptist church. His children were: Nancy, Mrs. Susan Duron, John, George, Eliza, Polly, Ann, Eli, Andrew, Jane and Amis.
After his marriage Mannon Duron settled on a farm seven miles north of the battle-field of Shiloh, where he remained as a successful agriculturalist until the inauguration of hostilities between the North and the South, when he joined the army, serving until the close of the war. He was under General Joe Johnson and General Hood in the Army of the Tennessee and took part in many campaigns, in much skirmishing and in various important battles, meeting the usual experiences and hardships of a soldier’s life. When the war was over he returned to his home and undertook the work of improving his farm, which had been almost completely devastated by the ravages of the two armies. He still lives upon the old homestead there and is a respected and worthy citizen of his community. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his ability and trustworthiness, have called him to the office of tax collector and justice of the peace, his incumbency in the latter position covering several years. He belongs to the Primitive Baptist church. In October, 1870, he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, and he later married Miss Emarillis. By his first marriage he had five children: Robert D., of this review; Mrs. Sarah J. Harris; Molly, the wife of J. Serratt; George, and Andrew. All with the exception of Dr. Duron yet remain in Tennessee and are farming people there. By the father’s second marriage there were four children: Blanton, John, Eli and Elmer.
Dr. Duron was reared to the occupation of farming and began his education in one of the old time log school houses. He commenced reading medicine when quite young and in 1883 he entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, where he pursued a course of lectures. He afterward located at Jimtown, where he practiced successfully for seven years, when in 1890 he returned to his alma mater and was graduated. He then again practiced in Jimtown, where he remained for a short time, and in November, 1890, he came to Bulcher, Texas, where he has since followed his profession. In 1899 he pursued a post-graduate course in Louisville, Kentucky, and thus he has kept in touch with modern scientific methods of practice. He is, moreover, a close and discriminating student at all times and keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the profession and is quick to adopt the improved instruments and appliances which are of such great value to the physician and surgeon in his practice.
In 1874 Dr. Duron was married to Miss Josie Jackson, a native of McNairy county, Tennessee, born in September, 1858, and was a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Cox) Jackson, the former of North Carolina and the latter of Mississippi. The parents were married in Mississippi, whence they afterward removed to Arkansas, later to Tennessee and subsequently became residents of Cooke county, Texas, where the father’s death occurred. He was a farmer by occupation and preferred giving his attention to his business interests rather than to seeking office. His wife yet survives at the advanced age of seventy-four years and finds a good home among her children, who are seven in number, namely: Jessie, Thomas, Edward, Andrew, Minter, Mrs. Jennie Hilterbrand and Mrs. Josie Duron. Mrs. Jackson is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, to which her husband also belonged.
Dr. and Mrs. Duron have an interesting family of ten children: Susie, now the wife of Eli Dennis; Callie, the wife of W. S. Gosdin; Dora, the wife of P. Williams; Joseph, a farmer; Ethel, Winnie, Mason and Myrtle, all at home; and Elmer and John, who are also under the parental roof. Both Dr. and Mrs. Duron are members of the Primitive Baptist church, and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Woodmen of the World, while professionally he is connected with the Northern Texas Medical Association. In his practice he has attained prominence and is to-day a most capable physician, who manifests a deep interest in everything that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas, Vol. I (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), pp. 677-678.