Biographical Sketches
JOHN PUNTON, M.D.
Is engaged in the practice of regular medicine, being one of the most able and skilled physicians of Kansas City. He was born in London, England, July 12, 1854, and is a son of William and Emily (Gumbrall) Punton, who also were natives of the same country. The grandfather, William Punton, was a solicitor or barrister at law in London, and died in the prime of life. His family numbered 2 sons and a daughter, including the father of our subject, who was an upholsterer and paper-hanger. His entire life was spent in his native city, where he died in 1890, at the age of 63 years. His wife also passed away at the same age. Both were members of the church of England, and were highly respected people. They had 8 children - 3 sons and 5 daughters - of whom 7 are now living, namely; Louisa, wife of George Monk; Marianne, wife of Alfred Clark, a detective of London; William, who is principal of a school in Reigate, England, a position he has filled for 27 years; John; Minnie, wife of Thomas Stafford, of London; Julia E., wife of Alfred Smith, who has been principal of a school in London for many years; and Alfred, a dentist of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. A daughter passed away name Louisa. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Thomas Gumbrall, was a farmer of England, and there spent his entire life, dying at an advanced age.
Dr. Punton spent his boyhood days in his native land and obtained his literary education in the public schools, which he attended until 16 years of age. During the succeeding 3 years he was the traveling companion for a wealthy gentleman in all parts of Europe. No better educational training could have been given him than this, for �by running to and fro in the earth shall knowledge be increased;� and one gains through looking upon different scenes and watching the various nationalities a knowledge that could never be obtained from text books. It was in this way he gained a desire to come to America. He is today a man of broad general information, having been made so through experience, observation and extensive reading.
The Doctor was a young man of 18 years when he crossed the Atlantic to America, taking up his residence in Jacksonville, Illinois, where he secured a position as attendant in the insane asylum located there. In the meantime he studied pharmacy, and became the apothecary of the Central Illinois Hospital for the Insane - a position which he creditably filled for 10 years, during which time, at the suggestion of the medical faculty of this institution, he studied medicine until he graduated. He, however, sought a broader field of labor, and resolved to enter the general medical profession, which calls for great sacrifices and more arduous labors than almost any other calling. In the winter of 1878-9 he was a student in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, after which he returned to the asylum to re-enter his position as druggist for the institution. It was by this means that he acquired the capital necessary to complete his education, and going to Cincinnati he entered the Miami Medical College, at which he was graduated in the class of 1883.
Immediately afterward Dr. Punton removed to Lawrence, Kansas, where he engaged in practice for a year and a half, during which time he served as city physician. The State Insane Asylum at Topeka, Kansas, had been greatly enlarged, and the Doctor was then offered, by the president of the state board of charities, the position of superintendent of one of the new, large, detached buildings, containing 300 patients; there he remained for 3 years. Of a nature that would never content itself with mediocrity or partial success, he went, at the expiration of that period, to Chicago, in order to carry his resources and investigations still father, and gained further proficiency in his chosen calling. He therefore took a special course in the Northwestern Medical College, and, seeking a broader field of labor, came to Kansas City, in March, 1888. For 4 years he engaged in general practice, and then went to New York, where he took a course in the post-graduate college, also in the clinical department, making a specialty of nervous diseases, under the direction of Drs. Dana and Landon Carter Gray. Subsequently he spent 6 months in Europe, attending the special clinics devoted to nervous diseases. On returning to Kansas City he became a specialist in this line, and remarkable success has attended his efforts. In 1895 he made another trip to London for special study, and also took a special course under the same instructors in New York. The science of medicine has yielded up many of its secrets to him, and entering the lists against disease and death he has many, many times come off conqueror in the strife.
On the 17th of July, 1884, Dr. Punton was united in marriage with Miss Frances Evelyn Spruill, daughter of W. F. T. and Mary B. (Babbitt) Spruill. Her father is a Methodist minister belonging to the Illinois Conference. Mrs. Punton is a native of Kentucky, and a most cultured and refined lady, a graduate of the Illinois Female College, of Jacksonville, Illinois, in the literary as well as the fine art department. Three sons have been born to this marriage - Frank Gibson, John Morse and William Bruce. The parents are members of the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, and also belong to the order of the Eastern Star, of the Masonic fraternity, while the Doctor is a member of Albert Pike lodge, A. F. & A. M., as well as of the Scottish rite and Oriental commandery. He also holds a membership in various medical societies and is now president of the Kansas City Academy of Medicine. He belongs to the Jackson County, the Kansas City District, the Missouri State and the Tri-state Medical Societies. He is an honorary member of numerous other medical organizations in Missouri and Kansas, as well as the Kansas State Medical Society. He is now professor of nervous and mental diseases in the University Medical College, also holds the same chair in the Woman's Medical and the Western Dental Colleges, and is special lecturer to the Scarritt Training School, and consulting neurologist to All Saints Hospital, the Kansas City, the Fort Scott & Memphis, the Pittsburg & Gulf and the Missouri & Pacific Railroad Hospitals. His prominent connection with these various institutions is a sufficient guaranteed of his ability, and indicates better than commendatory words would do the high position he occupies among his professional brethren. He is one of the most promising of the rising generation of physicians of Kansas City, and we predict for him unbounded success.
This page was last updated August 2, 2006.