DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, some folks leave a mark on a town by building a courthouse or winning a battle. Dr.
William A. Carroll left his mark a different way. He left it on more than two thousand five hundred of them.
Born on April 13, 1875, in Chester County, Tennessee, to Joseph Cyrus and Emily Kirk Carroll, William grew up, headed to the University of Tennessee, and graduated in 1901. By 1900 he had married Claudia Haltom, and by 1914 the two of them had made their way to Claude, Texas, out here in Armstrong County. And Claude, whether it knew it or not, had just gotten itself a doctor it would never forget.
Over a career of fifty-four years, Dr. Carroll delivered over two thousand five hundred babies. You stop and think about that number for a second.
Two thousand five hundred. That is not a career. That is a small town's worth of beginnings, all of them passing through the same steady pair of hands.
When he wasn't delivering the next generation of the Texas Panhandle, Dr. Carroll was woven into the fabric of Claude in just about every other way a man could be. A staunch Democrat.
A Mason and a Shriner. A charter member of the Claude Lions Club. A director of the First State Bank of Claude.
President of the Potter County Medical Association. The man was not exactly sitting still between house calls. Then in 1950, the city of Claude did something that tends to say more than any speech ever could.
They named this park for him. Not for a general, not for a politician, but for the doctor who had been showing up, year after year, for the people of that community. Dr. and Mrs.
Carroll had four children together: Kirk, Ralph, Perry, and Roberta. Their son Ralph carried something of his father's calling forward, becoming a physician himself, practicing over in Amarillo. Dr.
William A. Carroll died on April 22, 1960. But out here in Claude, you are standing in his legacy right now.
What the marker says
(April 13, 1875-April 22, 1960) Born in Chester County, Tenn., son of Joseph Cyrus and Emily Kirk Carroll. Married Claudia Haltom, 1900. Graduated 1901 from University of Tennessee. Moved to Claude, 1914. In career of 54 years, delivered over 2500 babies. A staunch Democrat; a Mason and a Shriner; charter member, Claude Lions Club; director, First State Bank of Claude; president, Potter County Medical Association, he was honored, 1950, when city of Claude named this park for him. Dr. and Mrs. Carroll had four children: Kirk, Ralph, Perry, and Roberta. The son Ralph became a physician in Amarillo. (1973)