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References
Reverend W.T.D Dalzell
Born
in St. Vincent, Jamaica on June 28, 1828, Dr. W. T. D.
Dalzell became one of the most important physicians in
Shreveport.
1
He was educated in England, graduating from Oxford after
studying medicine and ministry, which he felt went
hand-in-hand. In 1848 he was ordained in the Church of
England and came to the United States, settling in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time of the Civil
War, he moved to the South because his feelings were
more in line with the Southern Cause. He became a
chaplain in a Texas regiment, and after the Civil War,
he was the rector of
Holy
Trinity Church in Houston.
2
He helped in the epidemics that plagued
Norfolk,
Virginia in 1852. Two
years later he helped in Savannah, Georgia.
3
He married Estelle Logan of New Orleans on November 1,
1866 and came to Shreveport, where he served as the
rector for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church until his death.
4
He lived in the city from this time until his death,
with the exception of one year, which he spent in
Tennessee. His home, built in about 1870, is located at
758
Austin Place,
and it is believed that he lived at this address until
at least 1882.
5
In 1873 Shreveport dealt with its worst epidemic of
yellow fever. Dalzell, who had witnessed the disease’s
symptoms while aiding the sick in Virginia and Georgia,
told city officials that they would soon have an
epidemic on their hands.
6
The officials ignored him, trying to keep Shreveporters
calm. Dalzell turned to his church, where he declared
from the pulpit that an epidemic was on their hands and
ordered his congregation to flee the city. He also wrote
articles in the local newspaper reprimanding people for
blaming God for the epidemic and urged them to hold onto
their faith.7
In
1878 he went to Memphis, Tennessee to help with their
yellow fever epidemic and returned there to preach in
the following year before returning to Shreveport.
8
The site of the old St. Mark’s Church was sold after his
death and a new church was built in his memory. The
officials gave his name to one of the main residential
streets in the city.
9
He
died at the age of seventy on February 4, 1899 and was
buried in the Masonic plot of the new cemetery.
10
References
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