Our Arklahoma Heritage:The country doctor who helped carry Madison County through its hardest days
- Dennis McCaslin
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Walter Ennis Acree was born on September 2, 1876, in Appling, Columbia County, Georgia, at a time when the South was still piecing itself back together after the Civil War.
His parents, Wiley Wood Acree, a veteran, and Mary Elizabeth “Lizzy” Blanchard Acree, raised him in a household steeped in faith, and the values of hard work. Lizzy, remembered in family lore as a true Southern Belle, had married Wiley in 1860, and together they built a large family that included Walter and his seven siblings.
As a young man, Walter followed the westward migration that carried many families from Georgia into the Ozarks. By the turn of the century, he had settled in Madison County, where the rugged hills and scattered farms became the backdrop for his life’s work. It was here that he began his career in medicine, serving as a country doctor in War Eagle Township and later in Huntsville.
There is no record of formal medical school training for Dr. Acree. In the early 20th century, especially in rural areas like the Ozarks, many country doctors entered practice through apprenticeship-style training rather than formal medical schools. It was common for aspiring physicians to study under established doctors, learn through hands-on experience, and gradually build a reputation in their communities.
.In those days, rural medicine was defined less by clinics and more by commitment. Walter traveled by horse and buggy to reach patients, often across miles of rough terrain, and he never asked whether a family could pay. Neighbors remembered him as a man who came when called, stayed when needed, and believed healing was his duty.
His practice was not glamorous, but it was essential. He treated fevers, delivered babies, set broken bones, and guided families through epidemics. In a county where hospitals were distant and modern medicine was still developing, he became a lifeline.
His presence was more than medical; he was a confidant, counselor, and anchor for the community.
In 1898, Walter married Zora Lucinda Brown. Together they built a household known for its warmth and resilience. Their marriage endured joys and sorrows, including the tragic loss of their eldest son, Otis, in a firearm accident in Joplin, Missouri, in 1917.
The grief was profound, but the family carried on, with daughters Ola, Blanche, and Jessie continuing the Acree legacy. Zora stood as a steadfast partner, supporting Walter’s demanding work while raising their children, and their bond lasted until his death in 1958.
She joined him eight years later in Alabam Cemetery, where they rest among the hills he had served for decades.
Walter’s roots ran deep into the Acree family story. His father, Wiley, lived to the age of eighty-four and was buried in Silver Hill Cemetery in Searcy County, Arkansas, alongside Lizzy, who had died in 1910. Their children spread across Arkansas and beyond, carrying the Acree name into new generations.
Walter’s siblings included James Wiley, Albert Sid Johnson, Anna Marva, John Hogan, Mary Susan, James Blanchard, and Geneva Mae, each weaving their own threads into the family’s history.
Dr. Acree’s life was inseparable from the land and people of Madison County. His gravestone in Alabam Cemetery stands as a quiet marker of decades spent in service, a reminder of the resilience of rural communities and the country doctors who sustained them.
