Surgeon Major, William M. McPheeters, CSA, (1815-1905)-McPheeters was  in Raleigh, North Carolina, on December 3, 1815, and attended the state university at Chapel Hill.  In 1840 he completed his studies of medicine in Philadelphia and in 1841 began his residence and practice in St. Louis.  Dr. McPheeters served on the staff of the St. Louis Medical College from 1843 until 1861.  In early 1862, the McPheeters family was among the numerous prominent St. Louis families of Southern sympathies who were forced to pay fines, supposedly to be used for the relief of refugees from southwest Missouri.  Refusing to take an oath of loyalty to the Union, Dr. McPheeters left his family and his practice on June 20, 1862, and made his way to Richmond to tender his services to the Confederacy

On July 8 he was commissioned a major and surgeon.  His initial assignment was as medical director for General Price’s command at Tupelo, Mississippi.  He continued to serve with Price for most of the war.  After his parole at Monroe, Louisiana, Dr. McPheeters returned to St. Louis on June 17, 1865.  He resumed his practice and, until 1874, his professor’s role at the medical college.  For many years he was an editor or contributor to the St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal.  McPheeters died in St. Louis on March 15, 1905.     (Block 41, Lot 415)