A woman who was ostracized by her family and hung out with gang members was one of Orange’s most revered citizens. When Dr. Karen Inena Peterson Mitchell died in 1945, the town mourned her death and the loss of a dedicated physician.
The doctor was a rare woman in the medical profession in the 1890s and she faced discrimination, even from her family.
Her daughter, Marie, wrote for the July, 1976, edition of “Las Sabinas” about the doctor. “Las Sabinas” is published by the Orange County Historical Society.
“Karen’s family were horrified and considered that she had disgraced them by choosing this profession,” Marie wrote about her mother’s admission to medical school. “As a result, her family refused to help her financially or recognize her socially.”
After graduating from medical school, the young doctor went to work in what was then known as Indian Territory. Sometimes she would be taken blindfolded and driven into the Badlands to treat members of the Dalton gang and other outlaws.
Dr. Mitchell was born on November 26, 1872, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her family moved to the United States when she was an infant and they settles in a Danish colony in Iowa. They lived on a farm. Somehow, the young immigrant girl dreamed of becoming a physician in the days when girls were supposed to become wives and mothers.
Like other children in the community, she went to small, one-room schools. She studied and graduated at the age of 18. Then she taught for two years in a log cabin school to save money for medical school.
In 1892, she became a member of the freshman medical class at Iowa University. Of course, she was the only woman and became “an object of great curiosity and speculation,” her daughter wrote.
Because her family wouldn’t help her, Karen had to earn money doing odd jobs like housekeeping and being a companion to the elderly. The last year of school, she lived in the residence of one of her professors and helped take care of his blind wife. She received room and board along with a bit of money to pay for books and occasionally, new pieces of clothing.
Medical school graduates in the late 19th Century did not have hospital internships. Dr. Karen went to work for a physician who had graduated from Iowa University. He was in the town of Muskogee in the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.
The doctor’s daughter recalled her mother telling her stories about going to treat the outlaws who had been shot or had an illness. After sundown, someone would show up at her house. They would use her horse and buggy, blindfold her, and drive to the Badlands.
Sometimes the doctor stayed overnight and would return the next night. She would be blindfolded again and driven back home. Her daughter said the Dalton gang appreciated the doctor so much they gave her a pair of chestnut thoroughbred horses for her buggy.
A fire destroyed most of the town of Muskogee in 1899. Dr. Karen lost the horses, her books and belongings. She then moved to Houston and opened an office on the second floor of the Rice Hotel. She became one of the first women physicians to be licensed in the state.
While there, a young engineer from Austria became her patient. In May 1900 Alex L. Mitchell and Dr. Karen married. The Mitchells’ daughter said her father’s name was originally Alexander Loeffler, but Americans could not pronounce his name. He had it legally changed to Alexander Loeffler Mitchell.
In 1901, Mitchell got a job in Orange with the Lutcher and Moore Lumber Company and they moved to Orange. Dr. Karen began a practice in Orange and the community accepted her.
Her daughter wrote that the doctor treated all people, whether or not they could pay. Sometimes she was paid with chickens and produce. Dr. Karen would also pack and deliver baskets of food, preserves and clean linens for families.
Alex Mitchell was a 32-degree Mason and belonged to the Madison Lodge No. 126 in Orange. Dr. Karen Mitchell became one of the original members of the local Order of the Eastern Star Lodge. In a “Las Sabinas” article in 2001, Patsy Phillips wrote that Dr. Karen recalled the group met at the Masonic Hall on Water Street.
The members would have to walk, ride horses or buggies to the night meetings. At the time, the only street lights in Orange were on Front Street. In addition, the city did not have any livestock ordinances. Cows and other animals roamed the streets and sidewalks. Dr. Karen recalled stepping “in foreign matter during those walks. She also said the fee for the Eastern Star Lodge that first year was $1.50.
Phillips wrote in “Las Sabinas” she learned “Dr. Mitchell was quite a character.
The Mitchells were also members of St. Paul Episcopal Church. They lived at 410 15th Street.
The Mitchells’ first son died as a baby before they moved to Orange. They later had two daughters and a son. Alex Mitchell died in 1930 and was buried in Jett Cemetery with full Masonic honors.
Dr. Karen continued her medical practice until she died. She had terminal cancer and her patients would go to her home. When she died on October 4, 1945, the Orange Leader, a daily newspaper at the time, had a front page headline “Dr. Mitchell Dies Following Long Illness.” -Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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