James  M.  Eidge,  now  one  of  the  leading
physicians  and  surgeons  of  West  Jersey,  is  a
son  of  Moses  and  Sarah  (McFarland)
Kidge,  and  was  born  in  Tinicum  township,
Bucks  County,  Pa.,  October  6,  1826.  His
father  was  an  intelligent  and  prosperous
farmer,  under  whose  watchful  care  as  an  in-
structor the  rudimentary  education  of  the
son  was  obtained.  The  grandmother  of  Dr.
Eidge,  on  his  father's  side,  was  a  daughter  of
Edward  Marshall,  a  lineal  descendant  of
a  family  prominent  in  the  annals  of  Penn-
sylvania His  father  died  iu  the  year
1860,  and  his  mother  several  years  earlier.
In  1847,  after  receiving  a  preparatory  in-
tellectual training  at  home  and  in  the  schools
of  his  native  township,  he  entered  a  boarding-
school  taught  by  Solomon  Wright,  at  Bridge-
ton,  Pa.,  and  in  1849  Dr.  Eidge  became  the
teacher  of  the  school.  In  the  fall  of  the  same
year  he  determined  to  take  up  the  study
of  medicine,  and  thereupon  entered  the  office
of  Dr.  William  S.  Hendrie,  of  Doylestown,
Pa.,  as  a  student,  and  remained  in  this  re-
lation until  his  graduation  from  the  Medical
Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl-
vania, April  2,  1852.  Upon  receiving
his  degree  and  diploma  he  began  the  prac-
tice of  medicine  in  his  native  township,
continuing  there  until  the  year  1856,  when
he  removed  to  Camden,  in  which  city  he  has
gained  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  surgeon,  and
a  successful  practitioner  of  medicine.  He  is
well  versed  in  the  science  and  literature  of  his
chosen  profession.  Dr.  Eidge  has  been  promi-
nently identified  with  various  medical  societies,
and  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  the
discussions  of  topics  at  their  deliberations.
