Bios: DR. ROBERT G. BOAK: Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

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  Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lawrence Co transcribers.
  Coordinated by Ed McClelland

  Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
 
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  Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
  Lawrence County Pennsylvania
  Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
  
  An html version with search engine may be found at 
  
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lawrence/1897/
  
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    DR. ROBERT G. BOAK,
    
    [p. 562] a leading physician of East Brook, Hickory township, was born in
  Slippery Rock township, this county, March 16, 1865, and is a son of Charles
  and Eleanor A. (Weller) Boak, the former of Scott and the latter of Slippery
  Rock township.
    
    Charles Boak, Sr., the grandfather of Dr. Boak, was a native of Ireland; he
  came to America with his parents when a lad, and settled with them in eastern
  Pennsylvania; when he grew up, he bade the old home and the loved ones there
  good-bye and came to Scott township, where he purchased a farm in the near
  vicinity of Harlansburg, where, in connection with farming, he found time to
  profitably employ himself in the winter months teaching school. He was a very
  intelligent, well-read man, whose opinions and ideas were well-grounded on
  established facts; his ability as a school-teacher was recognized, and many
  old settlers of that part of the county still remember with pleasure the good
  lessons taught them by Mr. Boak. His family was constituted of the following
  children: Rebecca; Aaron; Peggy; Charles; Sarah; Martha; William; Washington;
  Mary A.; and Eliza. They were United Presbyterians in their religious
  sympathies.
    
    The father of our subject completed his education in Scott township
  schools, and then turned his attention to farming, which he followed all the
  years of his life given over to active labor in Slippery Rock township; in
  1887, he moved to New Castle, where he lived in retirement until his death.
  He bore an excellent reputation as a successful and prosperous farmer, who
  ever lent himself to the promotion of the best interests of his locality and
  township. He was a stanch Republican, and held several offices at the
  disposal of his fellow-townsmen. His wife, who was a daughter of William
  Weller, made him the proud and happy parent of seven children, namely:
  Charles, who married Carrie Badger of Portersville, Butler Co., Pa., and has
  one son, Clyde; Mary, who married William Joiner of Louisville, Ky.; Thomas,
  who married Maggie Alford of Slippery Rock township, and, has one son,
  Howard; Robert G., the subject of this notice; Agnes, who married Phillip
  Sechler of Slippery Rock township, and has one child, Gula. Mrs. Boak died in
  1890, aged sixty-three years, and her husband followed her to the land of rest
  three years later at the same age. They were members of the Presbyterian
  Church.
    
    Dr. Robert G. Boak obtained an elementary education in the district schools
  of his immediate neighborhood, and in the State Normal School of Edinboro, Pa.
  After having advanced thus far, he taught school for seven years, during which
  time for the space of one year he read medicine under the direction of Dr.
  Charles Hunt of Princeton, Pa., not neglecting his duties in the least. He
  then entered the Baltimore Medical College of Baltimore, Md., in 1893, and
  after one year changed his location, becoming a medical student in the
  medical department of the Western University of Pittsburg, Pa., from which he
  graduated in 1897. Having determined beforehand on East Brook as a suitable
  location, he at once opened an office in the village, and entered upon the
  active practice of his profession. He has obtained in short time the
  good-will and patronage of the people of East Brook and its vicinity, who
  regard him as a well-read, enterprising member of the medical profession, who
  has at his command the latest methods in the treatment of diseases, and the
  requisite knowledge and ability to use them successfully. His many friends
  are united in wishing him the best of success.
    
    In 1886, he was joined in marriage with Minerva McCurdy, daughter of
  Abraham McCurdy of Princeton, Pa., and their home has been blessed with the
  arrival of two children, W. Earl and Robert C. The family has identified
  itself with the Presbyterian Church in all its good work.