The First Eight Months of Oklahoma City.
DR. I. W. FOLSOM
One of the most scholarly and successful physicians in the city is Dr. I. W. Folsom. He was born November 5, 1846, in the Choctaw Nation, twenty miles north of Denison, near Carriage Point.
His father was ever high in the councils of the Choc-taw Nation and served with distinction in the war. At the age of twelve, the subject of this sketch, was sent to Paris, Texas, where he remained till 1859. He remained in school during the war and when it was over, his father, who was then superintendent of schools in the Choctaw Nation, sent him with a company of fourteen young ladies and gentlemen to the Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee where he was a student for over three years. King's College, Bristol, Tennessee, claimed him as a pupil for one year and from there he went to Baltimore and completed his education in the famous Washington University of that city. He was a resident hospital student during two years of his stay in Baltimore and gained important practical experience in the practice of medicine, his chosen profession. The last six months of his stay in Baltimore he was the hospital's prescription druggist and in this acquired much valuable information that has been of great benefit to him in his vast practice.
Upon graduating in 1872 Dr. Folsom returned to Atoka, Choctaw Nation, where he soon built up a wonderful practice. He was the National agent under Chief B. F. Smallwood, and was for a number of years, president and secretary of the Medical Board of the Choctaw Nation. He came to Oklahoma City, May 17, 1889, - where he has since resided - having an extraordinary practice and in which he has been highly successful. He owns considerable property in the business portion of the city and is also heavily interested in coal and gold mines in the Nation.
The doctor was married May 5, 1875. His skill as a surgeon is remarkable and he ranks foremost among the physicians of the south-west.