William James Lumsden

(Pasquotank County)

Featured Character – 1864 Confederate Decline


William James Lumsden, M.D.

Dr. William J. Lumsden

Courtesy of Dr. Brandon Peters


William James Lumsden was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on April 10, 1846. He attended the Crenshaw and Hardy Academy in Blackstone, Virginia, and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). It was while attending VMI that Lumsden served as a cadet in the Confederate Army at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. He was a surgeon of the 1st Regiment North Carolina Troops, eventually joining with General Joseph E. Johnston’s army in Greensboro. After the war, Lumsden reunited with his family at their new home in Pasquotank County. He apprenticed under doctors in South Mills and Hertford before enrolling at the University of Maryland Medical School.  He graduated in 1869 and opened a practice in Elizabeth City a year later.  On June 29, 1874, Lumsden married Sarah Kennedy, the grandniece of Lovey Pool.  William James Lumsden died from a stroke on October 14, 1914.

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