Sugar Land's early doctors had rather peculiar names. The previous blog post mentioned Doctor Deatherage, who was actually the first physician in town. This time we revisit Dr. Carlos Alva Slaughter. [Thanks again to Janice Hrncir, who recently donated items to the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation which her mother, Iris Hrncir, inherited from Dr. Slaughter. Mrs. Hrncir was Dr. Slaughter's long-time assistant at the old Sugar Land clinic.]
I think many of us never thought much about Dr. Slaughter's surname unless an outsider pointed out the irony. Dr. Slaughter was just Dr. Slaughter to most of us. I'll bet I wasn't the only local who never thought of him as a young man. Well, here he is as a boy and young man.
He attended Austin College although he graduated as a pre-med student from UT in Austin (I think). You see the cover of the 1919 Austin College yearbook and his picture (highlighted in red) in the freshman class.
I'm having a little trouble determining his birth date, but I think he's a 16-year old freshman. I've heard he finished high school early and enter college early, too.
This next document indicates he took classes at East Texas State in Commerce, Texas during the summer of 1922. I presume he took summer courses, so he could graduate early. He did well in a couple of education courses, a history course, and what appears to be a social science course.
Here are a couple of photos of him as a college student. I found some info suggesting he graduated from UT in 1925, and I assume that's when he got his bachelor's degree. If that's true, then the photo of him in cap and gown should appear in the Longhorn yearbook.
Finally, here's certificate of appreciation he received for serving on the Fort Bend County draft board during WWII. (Note FDR's signature.)
