Dr. Joseph W. Becker is among the oldest medical practitioners in the city of Paducah, Ky., is the gentleman whose name heads this Sketch and whose portrait is found elsewhere in this work. Dr Becker was born in Smithland, Ky., in 1826, and is of German and French Ancestry. His father Joseph Becker was a native of Quebec, Canada, removed to Kentucky in his early life and was an early merchant in Paducah, in which city he died in June 1857. Dr. Becker's mother, Catherine Becker, was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and is a daughter of John Hagey, who fought in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Becker is now a resident of Paducah and a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The subject of this sketch received his preparatory education in the schools of Paducah, attending later the St. Joseph's College at Bardstown, Ky. He then decided to adopt the medical profession, and prosecuted the studies of the same under Drs. Phillips and Jones. In the fall of 1847, he entered the medical department of the University of Louisville, graduating in February,1849. After several years practice in
Metropolis, Ill. he located in Paducah, Ky., where he has practiced ever since. It is but just to accord to Dr. Becker the restige of being not only a seccessful physician, but also one of the most highly respected citizens of Paducah, being especially interested in efforts to promote the cause of education as well as all enterprises tending to the best interests of all people. He is a member of the Kentucky Medical Society ; Southwestern Kentucky Medical Association; Paducah Medical Club; Masonic
order, and of the Episcopal Church. In 1852 he married Miss Katie Baker daughter of John D. Baker of Louisville, Ky. She died in September, 1853.