from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)--pages 230-231
In this day of specialization the world demands experts in every line and he who would make the most pronounced success along any particular line of endeavor must concentrate all of his time, attention and energy on his chosen field. In the field of medicine the work of the old family doctor is now in the hands of a hundred different specialists, each treating some particular ailment and no others. There has also arisen within the last twenty-five years a new field in the department of therapeutics and medicine and one which is of great importance. This new departure will not only be the means of saving the health of hundreds of thousands of people, but it has an influence which will affect the very life of the nation itself, striking as it does at the foundations of our social fabric. The home, the school, the industrial world and every phase of society is going to be changed for the better because of this new phase of the medical profession.
Inebriety is now recognized as a disease and there has been discovered by Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, a treatment which, properly administered, results in a complete relief from the craving or appetite for alcohol and narcotics. Nearly half a million persons have been treated within the last twenty-five years and the success which has attended the use of Dr. Keeley's remedies has made his name a household word in thousands of homes. For the past twenty-three years there has been a branch of the Keeley Institute at Plainfield, Indiana, and during all but five years of that time it has been under the charge of Dr. A.P.W. Bridges, who has achieved a notable success in handling thousands of cases of inebriety and morphineism.
Dr. Bridges, the son of Rev. M.C. and Sophia J. (Doyle) Bridges, was born September 27, 1856, in Owen County, Indiana. His father was a native of Indiana and his mother of North Carolina. Rev. Bridges was born near Abington, Wayne County, his ancestors having come to Indiana from Virginia by way of Kentucky. They settled in Wayne County in the twenties and in the thirties moved to Owen County and lived there the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1900 at the age of seventy-five, the mother having passed away several years before. They reared a large family of children, but Dr. Bridges is the only one living.
Dr. Bridges received a good common school education and then took the course in the Indiana Medical College, at Indianapolis, graduating from that institution in the spring of 1892. He started to practice at Cloverdale, Indiana, and shortly afterwards removed to Alaska, Morgan County, where he remained until he took charge of the Keeley Institute at Plainfield. Under his efficient administration the institute has made a steady growth and is now recognized as one of the best in the United States. In 1912 the buildings were completely overhauled and put in first class condition in every particular.
Dr. Bridges was first married to Emma F. Alverson, of Spencer, Indiana, in 1883, and to this union there were born five children: Ralph, who is a graduate of Depauw and Indiana Universities, and is now a professional chemist, at Plainfield; Alta, who is a graduate of Depauw University, and now a teacher in the high school, at Plainfield; and three who are still at home, Joyce, Willard and James. Mrs. Bridges dies in April, 1908, and January 7, 1913, Dr. Bridges married Minnie Morgan, of Plainfield, to which union Ruth Adelaide was born, February 19, 1914.
Dr. Bridges is a thirty-second-degree Mason, a Shriner, and also holds membership in the tribe of Red Men. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and has been a trustee in the church for many years. He is a staunch Democrat and takes an active interest in the affairs of his party and was nominated by his party in 1914 for the office of county clerk. He has been the precinct committeeman from Guilford Township ever since he lived there. He has been identified with Plainfield Building and Loan Association as its vice-president for many years. He is a member of the library board of Plainfield.
It is safe to say that the work being done by Dr. Bridges is conferring a boon upon thousands of homes and the sphere of his influence is constantly increasing. His work is highly endorsed by men in every profession who see in the service he is rendering to afflicted humanity the positive means of ameliorating untold suffering and misery. Dr. Bridges is a widely read man and one whom it is a pleasure to meet, and his friends are truly numbered by the thousands.