WAYLAND, J. H. (1863-1948). J. H. Wayland, physician, Baptist religious leader, and founder of Wayland Baptist Collegeqv was born in Randolph County, Missouri, on April 22, 1863. He attended Central College of Missouri and graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine. He moved to Texas in 1883. On December 27, 1883, he married Sarah Frances Tucker at Weatherford, Texas. After practicing medicine in Parker and Hunt counties, he moved to Plainview in April 1891. There his practice covered a radius of 250 miles of unbroken territory, with no roads across the prairie. He owned and operated the Wayland Drug Store and continued his medical practice at Plainview for thirty years. He founded the Wayland Baptist College with a gift of thirty acres of land from his ranch and $100,000 in cash. Dr. Wayland worked to secure the building of a railroad into Plainview and was active in all community projects. After retiring from his medical practice, he built and operated the Wayland Hotel. He died in Plainview on February 6, 1948, survived by his widow, two sons, and four daughters.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Files, Wayland Baptist University Library. Isaac Edgar Gates, Watching the World Go By (Nashville: Southern Baptist Convention, 1930). Marker Files, Texas Historical Commission, Austin. Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin.
Mary L. Cox
