William Henry Eames
William Henry Eames was born in Auburn, New York in 1828. While studying medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor he became interested in dentistry after meeting a locally prominent dentist, Dr. Henry Porter. Eames moved to Cincinnati to attend the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, where he graduated with honors as D.D.S. in 1853. He then returned to Ann Arbor to practice dentistry in partnership with Dr. Porter, remaining there until 1857.
Eames next moved to Lebanon, Tennessee to establish a dental practice. By 1862 the turmoil of the Civil War made life unpleasant, so Eames moved north to the larger city of St. Louis where his opportunities might expand. He quickly became established in St. Louis, becoming an organizer of both the Missouri State Dental Association (1865) and the Missouri Dental College (1866). Eames taught at the Missouri Dental College for twenty-eight years – he was elected the first professor of Artificial Dentistry and served as professor of the Institute of Dental Science. He served as dean of the faculty from 1875 to 1878. In all his years of teaching, Eames reportedly never failed to fill his lecture hour.
Eames served as president of the St. Louis Dental Society (1868), the Missouri State Dental Association (1869), the Mississippi Valley Dental Association (1873-74), and the National Association of Dental Faculties (1892); and as a member of the American Dental Association, and the Illinois and Iowa State Dental Societies. He died in St. Louis on March 29, 1894.