History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1675

After leaving college, Doctor O'Brien assisted Doctor Beaver, of
Mancelona, for a time, and then came to Pellston and opened an office
and engaged in practice. Thirty days after his arrival Pellston was visited
by a small-pox epidemic, and the Doctor was prevailed upon to accept the
position of health officer, in which capacity he fought so fearlessly and
capably that the disease was stamped out. He so won the confidence of
the people of the village that in May, I913, he was elected mayor without
opposition, and in I9I4 was re-elected. Formerly a Republican and a
delegate to the state convention of that party, in I912, he followed Colonel
Roosevelt into the Progressive movement and assisted in the organization
of the state ticket of the new party. He has been offered substantial
support by prominent men if he will agree to become a candidate for the
legislature, and there is not the slightest doubt but that he would make
an excellent official, being a fearless advocate of the principles he considers right and thoroughly conscientious in each work he undertakes.
Fraternally, Doctor O'Brien belongs to Elks Lodge, No. 629, Petoskey,
the Knights of the Maccabees and the Loyal Order of Moose.
Doctor O'Brien is a member of the American Medical Association and
the Michigan State Medical Society. Primarily a general practitioner, he
has specialized to some extent in the diseases of children and is also doing
some notable work in salvarsan treatment in the cure of paresis. Doctor
O'Brien is an active, wide-awake executive and is bending every energy
toward the building up of Pellston and the development of the surrounding country. He is also patriotic in support of his country and has already
offered his services to the United States as an army surgeon in case of
war with Mexico. He is unmarried.
The following is an appreciation of Doctor O'Brien as printed in a
local newspaper: "When Pellston was practically isolated from the world
because of an epidemic of smallpox, the villagers made Dr. Edward J.
O'Brien president of the town. That's where he got the title 'Mayor of
Pellston,' as he is known from the 'sun kissed shores of Superior to the
sin cussed shores of the metropolis,' as Fred Wetmore once remarked
down at Lansing. President O'Brien immediately turned his attention
to the sanitary condition of the town and hasn't been idle since. That
is the reason why, when members of the state board of health made an
investigation, instead of finding fault with the village officials, they turned
out words of commendation. Doctor O'Brien could stand on the beach of
the Atlantic and still be six feet above the sea level; he is thirty-five years
old, of exemplary habits, physically sound and an advocate of eugenics.
Although he sees no evil in the tango or the maxixe, he is still single. His
reputation as a physician and surgeon is more than local and he is a success
in his profession.
"Despite the duties of his large practice he has had time to mix with
people. In fact, the doctor is never happier than when he is with friends.
He never lacks for company. The local labor organization, although he is
a professional man, regard him as their own and on Labor day he has
full charge of all celebrations. The boundaries of Pellston don't limit his
friendships, either. He is well known in Detroit and other cities. Congressman Woodruff, of Bay City, never lets a season go by without spending a week fishing with 'Mayor' O'Brien. Besides being mayor he is
county physician. Also he was largely responsible for the defeat of the
$225,000 county bonding proposition holding that roads that bring the
market closer to the farmer are better than auto boulevards.
"He knows the significance of the hour of I I p. mi., and in order to
help along the state convention of the B. P. 0. E. to be held at Petoskey,
June 23, 24 and 25, the Elks of that city have put him on the publicity
committee. This story, however, is not the opening of his campaign to