Dr. William Martin Yandell was born on Sep. 14, 1843, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, a prominent physician of Louisville, Kentucky, and the former Susan Juliet Wendel, the daughter of David Wendel, a Murfreesboro merchant.
Yandell enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, but was discharged because of asthma. Not to be deterred, he enlisted twice more and was finally allowed to remain in the service in the hospital brigade. He was attached to the First Kentucky Brigade—the so-called "Orphan Brigade". The disease and dirty conditions he witnessed while in the Orphan Brigade, typical of many units during the Civil War, made an impression upon young Yandell.
He graduated with honors from medical school in Louisville (as did his two older brothers, David and Lunsford, Jr.), and moved to Mexico for a period of about eighteen months. There he learned to speak and read Spanish.
His travels next brought him to Seguin, Texas, where he owned and operated the Guadalupe Times newspaper. Yandell was involved in the founding of the Texas Press Association and—according to one source—an early president of that trade association.
It was in Seguin he met Nannie Rust, his future wife, and the pair married in 1877. Nannie was helping raise William, Alfred, and Richard Burges, the three sons of her late sister, Elizabeth "Bettie" Rust Burges. (Bettie had been the first wife of prominent Seguin attorney and legislator William Henry Burges.) William and Nannie Yandell's only child, Bettie Rust Yandell, was named in Bettie's honor.
After the death of their daughter at age 7 in 1886, William and Nannie moved to El Paso, Texas, seeking relief for William's asthma in the dry, warm climate. Their three Burges nephews eventually followed the couple to El Paso and all established law practices there.
After Yandell completed some post-graduate study in sanitary medicine in Denver, Colorado, he accepted the job of El Paso County Physician, a position he held the rest of his life. Drawing upon his wartime experiences with filth and disease, he helped implement changes that dramatically cleaned up El Paso, and was instrumental in the building of an adequate sewer system for the city of El Paso. He often went door-to-door to force homeowners to clean up their properties.
In one publication of his, "Contagious Disease on the Rio Grande Border", he noted that his reforms in El Paso had reduced the rate of diphtheria and small pox in El Paso to less than one-sixth the rate in the city's cross-border neighbor, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Yandell was equally adamant about cleaning up dirty politics, and teamed up in 1890 with noted El Paso reformist Waters S. Davis and Davis' two brothers to form the Law and Order League, whose mission was to eradicate gambling and prostitution. Yandell's nephews William and Richard Burges were also enlisted in the campaign.
In 1893, Governor James S. Hogg appointed Yandell a state quarantine officer for El Paso. He served in the same capacity under Governors Charles Culberson and Joseph Sayers.
By 1898, Yandell's health had visibly deteriorated, and by the spring of 1900, Yandell thought himself a "physical wreck" from asthma and other diseases. On the evening of Mar. 23, 1900, he took his own life. Nephew William Burges arranged for Yandell to be buried in Seguin, next to his daughter.
Yandell Boulevard, the longest street in El Paso, was named in his honor in 1920.
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Dr. Yandell kills himself
El Paso, Tex., March 23—Dr. W. M. Yandell, State Quarantine Officer at this point, and one of the best-known men in Texas, killed himself at his home at 8 o'clock tonight by sending a bullet through his brain.
Dr. Yandell was 57 years of age, and had lived here for at least ten years. He was born in Tennessee, but was a member of the noted Yandell family of Louisville, Ky. He had been a sufferer from asthma for years, and recently there was a complication of other diseases. He had often told his friends that he was a physical wreck, and intended to end it all, and those most intimately acquainted with him were not surprised to learn that he had killed himself.
Tonight at 8 o'clock, while alone in his room, Dr. Yandell [shot himself]. A negro servant, the only other person in the house, heard the shot from the kitchen and notified the Chief of Police, who resides next door.
Deceased left a letter addressed to his wife. His nephews, R. H.[sic] and William Burges, reside in this city.—Dallas Morning News, Mar. 24, 1900, pg. 5.
Yandell enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, but was discharged because of asthma. Not to be deterred, he enlisted twice more and was finally allowed to remain in the service in the hospital brigade. He was attached to the First Kentucky Brigade—the so-called "Orphan Brigade". The disease and dirty conditions he witnessed while in the Orphan Brigade, typical of many units during the Civil War, made an impression upon young Yandell.
He graduated with honors from medical school in Louisville (as did his two older brothers, David and Lunsford, Jr.), and moved to Mexico for a period of about eighteen months. There he learned to speak and read Spanish.
His travels next brought him to Seguin, Texas, where he owned and operated the Guadalupe Times newspaper. Yandell was involved in the founding of the Texas Press Association and—according to one source—an early president of that trade association.
It was in Seguin he met Nannie Rust, his future wife, and the pair married in 1877. Nannie was helping raise William, Alfred, and Richard Burges, the three sons of her late sister, Elizabeth "Bettie" Rust Burges. (Bettie had been the first wife of prominent Seguin attorney and legislator William Henry Burges.) William and Nannie Yandell's only child, Bettie Rust Yandell, was named in Bettie's honor.
After the death of their daughter at age 7 in 1886, William and Nannie moved to El Paso, Texas, seeking relief for William's asthma in the dry, warm climate. Their three Burges nephews eventually followed the couple to El Paso and all established law practices there.
After Yandell completed some post-graduate study in sanitary medicine in Denver, Colorado, he accepted the job of El Paso County Physician, a position he held the rest of his life. Drawing upon his wartime experiences with filth and disease, he helped implement changes that dramatically cleaned up El Paso, and was instrumental in the building of an adequate sewer system for the city of El Paso. He often went door-to-door to force homeowners to clean up their properties.
In one publication of his, "Contagious Disease on the Rio Grande Border", he noted that his reforms in El Paso had reduced the rate of diphtheria and small pox in El Paso to less than one-sixth the rate in the city's cross-border neighbor, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Yandell was equally adamant about cleaning up dirty politics, and teamed up in 1890 with noted El Paso reformist Waters S. Davis and Davis' two brothers to form the Law and Order League, whose mission was to eradicate gambling and prostitution. Yandell's nephews William and Richard Burges were also enlisted in the campaign.
In 1893, Governor James S. Hogg appointed Yandell a state quarantine officer for El Paso. He served in the same capacity under Governors Charles Culberson and Joseph Sayers.
By 1898, Yandell's health had visibly deteriorated, and by the spring of 1900, Yandell thought himself a "physical wreck" from asthma and other diseases. On the evening of Mar. 23, 1900, he took his own life. Nephew William Burges arranged for Yandell to be buried in Seguin, next to his daughter.
Yandell Boulevard, the longest street in El Paso, was named in his honor in 1920.
——— ⁂ ———
Dr. Yandell kills himself
El Paso, Tex., March 23—Dr. W. M. Yandell, State Quarantine Officer at this point, and one of the best-known men in Texas, killed himself at his home at 8 o'clock tonight by sending a bullet through his brain.
Dr. Yandell was 57 years of age, and had lived here for at least ten years. He was born in Tennessee, but was a member of the noted Yandell family of Louisville, Ky. He had been a sufferer from asthma for years, and recently there was a complication of other diseases. He had often told his friends that he was a physical wreck, and intended to end it all, and those most intimately acquainted with him were not surprised to learn that he had killed himself.
Tonight at 8 o'clock, while alone in his room, Dr. Yandell [shot himself]. A negro servant, the only other person in the house, heard the shot from the kitchen and notified the Chief of Police, who resides next door.
Deceased left a letter addressed to his wife. His nephews, R. H.[sic] and William Burges, reside in this city.—Dallas Morning News, Mar. 24, 1900, pg. 5.
Dr. William Martin Yandell was born on Sep. 14, 1843, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, a prominent physician of Louisville, Kentucky, and the former Susan Juliet Wendel, the daughter of David Wendel, a Murfreesboro merchant.
Yandell enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, but was discharged because of asthma. Not to be deterred, he enlisted twice more and was finally allowed to remain in the service in the hospital brigade. He was attached to the First Kentucky Brigade—the so-called "Orphan Brigade". The disease and dirty conditions he witnessed while in the Orphan Brigade, typical of many units during the Civil War, made an impression upon young Yandell.
He graduated with honors from medical school in Louisville (as did his two older brothers, David and Lunsford, Jr.), and moved to Mexico for a period of about eighteen months. There he learned to speak and read Spanish.
His travels next brought him to Seguin, Texas, where he owned and operated the Guadalupe Times newspaper. Yandell was involved in the founding of the Texas Press Association and—according to one source—an early president of that trade association.
It was in Seguin he met Nannie Rust, his future wife, and the pair married in 1877. Nannie was helping raise William, Alfred, and Richard Burges, the three sons of her late sister, Elizabeth "Bettie" Rust Burges. (Bettie had been the first wife of prominent Seguin attorney and legislator William Henry Burges.) William and Nannie Yandell's only child, Bettie Rust Yandell, was named in Bettie's honor.
After the death of their daughter at age 7 in 1886, William and Nannie moved to El Paso, Texas, seeking relief for William's asthma in the dry, warm climate. Their three Burges nephews eventually followed the couple to El Paso and all established law practices there.
After Yandell completed some post-graduate study in sanitary medicine in Denver, Colorado, he accepted the job of El Paso County Physician, a position he held the rest of his life. Drawing upon his wartime experiences with filth and disease, he helped implement changes that dramatically cleaned up El Paso, and was instrumental in the building of an adequate sewer system for the city of El Paso. He often went door-to-door to force homeowners to clean up their properties.
In one publication of his, "Contagious Disease on the Rio Grande Border", he noted that his reforms in El Paso had reduced the rate of diphtheria and small pox in El Paso to less than one-sixth the rate in the city's cross-border neighbor, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Yandell was equally adamant about cleaning up dirty politics, and teamed up in 1890 with noted El Paso reformist Waters S. Davis and Davis' two brothers to form the Law and Order League, whose mission was to eradicate gambling and prostitution. Yandell's nephews William and Richard Burges were also enlisted in the campaign.
In 1893, Governor James S. Hogg appointed Yandell a state quarantine officer for El Paso. He served in the same capacity under Governors Charles Culberson and Joseph Sayers.
By 1898, Yandell's health had visibly deteriorated, and by the spring of 1900, Yandell thought himself a "physical wreck" from asthma and other diseases. On the evening of Mar. 23, 1900, he took his own life. Nephew William Burges arranged for Yandell to be buried in Seguin, next to his daughter.
Yandell Boulevard, the longest street in El Paso, was named in his honor in 1920.
——— ⁂ ———
Dr. Yandell kills himself
El Paso, Tex., March 23—Dr. W. M. Yandell, State Quarantine Officer at this point, and one of the best-known men in Texas, killed himself at his home at 8 o'clock tonight by sending a bullet through his brain.
Dr. Yandell was 57 years of age, and had lived here for at least ten years. He was born in Tennessee, but was a member of the noted Yandell family of Louisville, Ky. He had been a sufferer from asthma for years, and recently there was a complication of other diseases. He had often told his friends that he was a physical wreck, and intended to end it all, and those most intimately acquainted with him were not surprised to learn that he had killed himself.
Tonight at 8 o'clock, while alone in his room, Dr. Yandell [shot himself]. A negro servant, the only other person in the house, heard the shot from the kitchen and notified the Chief of Police, who resides next door.
Deceased left a letter addressed to his wife. His nephews, R. H.[sic] and William Burges, reside in this city.—Dallas Morning News, Mar. 24, 1900, pg. 5.
Yandell enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861, but was discharged because of asthma. Not to be deterred, he enlisted twice more and was finally allowed to remain in the service in the hospital brigade. He was attached to the First Kentucky Brigade—the so-called "Orphan Brigade". The disease and dirty conditions he witnessed while in the Orphan Brigade, typical of many units during the Civil War, made an impression upon young Yandell.
He graduated with honors from medical school in Louisville (as did his two older brothers, David and Lunsford, Jr.), and moved to Mexico for a period of about eighteen months. There he learned to speak and read Spanish.
His travels next brought him to Seguin, Texas, where he owned and operated the Guadalupe Times newspaper. Yandell was involved in the founding of the Texas Press Association and—according to one source—an early president of that trade association.
It was in Seguin he met Nannie Rust, his future wife, and the pair married in 1877. Nannie was helping raise William, Alfred, and Richard Burges, the three sons of her late sister, Elizabeth "Bettie" Rust Burges. (Bettie had been the first wife of prominent Seguin attorney and legislator William Henry Burges.) William and Nannie Yandell's only child, Bettie Rust Yandell, was named in Bettie's honor.
After the death of their daughter at age 7 in 1886, William and Nannie moved to El Paso, Texas, seeking relief for William's asthma in the dry, warm climate. Their three Burges nephews eventually followed the couple to El Paso and all established law practices there.
After Yandell completed some post-graduate study in sanitary medicine in Denver, Colorado, he accepted the job of El Paso County Physician, a position he held the rest of his life. Drawing upon his wartime experiences with filth and disease, he helped implement changes that dramatically cleaned up El Paso, and was instrumental in the building of an adequate sewer system for the city of El Paso. He often went door-to-door to force homeowners to clean up their properties.
In one publication of his, "Contagious Disease on the Rio Grande Border", he noted that his reforms in El Paso had reduced the rate of diphtheria and small pox in El Paso to less than one-sixth the rate in the city's cross-border neighbor, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Yandell was equally adamant about cleaning up dirty politics, and teamed up in 1890 with noted El Paso reformist Waters S. Davis and Davis' two brothers to form the Law and Order League, whose mission was to eradicate gambling and prostitution. Yandell's nephews William and Richard Burges were also enlisted in the campaign.
In 1893, Governor James S. Hogg appointed Yandell a state quarantine officer for El Paso. He served in the same capacity under Governors Charles Culberson and Joseph Sayers.
By 1898, Yandell's health had visibly deteriorated, and by the spring of 1900, Yandell thought himself a "physical wreck" from asthma and other diseases. On the evening of Mar. 23, 1900, he took his own life. Nephew William Burges arranged for Yandell to be buried in Seguin, next to his daughter.
Yandell Boulevard, the longest street in El Paso, was named in his honor in 1920.
——— ⁂ ———
Dr. Yandell kills himself
El Paso, Tex., March 23—Dr. W. M. Yandell, State Quarantine Officer at this point, and one of the best-known men in Texas, killed himself at his home at 8 o'clock tonight by sending a bullet through his brain.
Dr. Yandell was 57 years of age, and had lived here for at least ten years. He was born in Tennessee, but was a member of the noted Yandell family of Louisville, Ky. He had been a sufferer from asthma for years, and recently there was a complication of other diseases. He had often told his friends that he was a physical wreck, and intended to end it all, and those most intimately acquainted with him were not surprised to learn that he had killed himself.
Tonight at 8 o'clock, while alone in his room, Dr. Yandell [shot himself]. A negro servant, the only other person in the house, heard the shot from the kitchen and notified the Chief of Police, who resides next door.
Deceased left a letter addressed to his wife. His nephews, R. H.[sic] and William Burges, reside in this city.—Dallas Morning News, Mar. 24, 1900, pg. 5.
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