(March 18, 1855 -- November 12, 1936) Born in a log cabin in rural east Cherokee County, William Reuben Tennison earned a degree from St. Louis Medical School in 1878. He returned home to open an office in the home of his father, Mathew Tennison. For the next fifty-eight years he provided health care for the people of Cherokee County, often treating indigent patients without payment. He continued to treat patients until shortly before his death.