LEEDS — The Leeds Historical Society will present a program on longtime physician D.F.D. Russell at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 2, in the Community Room at the Leeds Municipal Building.
Daniel Frank Davis Russell was born in Leeds in 1879. He graduated from Leavitt Institute and went on to study medicine at Bowdoin Medical School. After a year of interning at Central Maine General in Lewiston and post-grad work in Boston, “Doc” Russell returned to Leeds to practice medicine, and remained there as Leeds’ family doctor for 70 years.
Born in the post Civil War Reconstruction era, he lived to see a nation transformed from an agricultural country to an industrial one. He started out in a horse-and-buggy but was one of the first people in town to own a car. In the winter he replaced the tires on the car with tracks and “skis” so that he could make his rounds of house calls. He lived to hear of people walking on the moon. Throughout it all, he cared for the people of Leeds, no matter the hour, the weather or the family’s ability to pay.
Beloved by generations of Leeds families, Russell died in 1975, but is still remembered by many of Leeds’ residents.
The Leeds Municipal Building is located at 8 Community Drive. For more information, call Laura Juraska, 207-524-2324.
This photograph dated around 1900 shows Daniel Frank David Russell when he was a student at Bowdoin Medical School. A presentation on “Doc” Russell will be given by the Leeds Historical Society on June 2.
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