Goodspeed Biography of Alfred C. Blevins

Alfred C. Blevins, M. D., a well-known and practicing physician of Dayton, Rhea County, is a native of East Tennessee, born in what was then Rhea (but now Meigs) County, May 27, 1831. His parents, James Blevins and Ruth (Rockhold) Blevins, were of English and Irish descent respectively, and both were natives of Sullivan County, Tenn. The father was born in 1808, and died in Meigs County in 1845. The mother was born February 29, 1808, is still living and makes her home with the subject of this sketch. They were married in Rhea County (Meigs County having been cut off since) in 1826 and passed the remainder of his life in that county. The father was in early life a blacksmith, and afterward gave his attention exclusively to farming. He was a Democrat in his political views, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of which his wife is a worthy member. Our subject is the second of nine children, seven of whom are still living. He assisted his father on the plantation during his father’s lifetime, and secured a liberal education in his youth. At the age of twenty-one he began the study of medicine by studying under Dr. John M. Lillard, of Decatur, Meigs County. After reading one year he went to Washington, Rhea County, and here he continued to read medicine under Dr. John Hoyal. He remained at Washington about three years, and in the meantime, in the fall of 1859, he went to the Medical University of Nashville, Tenn. and attended his first course of lectures. In the fall of 1860 he went back, and in the spring of the following year he duly received his diploma as Doctor of Medicine. July 4, of the same year, he enlisted as first lieutenant of Company E. Twenty-sixth Tennessee Regiment of Infantry, Confederate States Army. John Crawford was captain of the company, and John M. Lillard was colonel of the regiment. He served twelve months in the field, and was then made assistant surgeon of the Forty-third Tennessee Regiment, of which Dr. James W. Gillespie was colonel. About twelve months later he was made chief surgeon of the Third Tennessee Regiment, and served his country in that capacity until the close of the war. He returned home in July, 1865, after four year’s service. In the fall of 1865 he located five miles southwest of Decatur, and began practicing his profession. In the fall of 1868 he purchased the old homestead, and moved upon it the next year, where he continued the practice of medicine in connection with the farming interest up to 1883, at which time he moved with his family to Dayton, and soon entered upon a large practice. In May 1871, he married Miss Virginia Catharine Chatten, a native of Meigs county, born November 10, 1851. this union resulted in the birth of four children –three sons and one daughter. Dr. Blevins is a Democrat in politics, and his wife is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. Our subject enjoys the distinction of being the man who started to build up and improve the now prosperous town of Dayton.

Published by The Goodspeed Publishing Co 1887