George Purcell's death certificate was signed by CL Lawless an 1899 graduate of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He practiced many years in Marshal MO.
George's obit
Purcell, a son of Y. A. and Mary Dickson Purcell, was born in April 1860, in Audram county, but due to the death of his father, his mother moved with her children to a farm near Arrow Rock, where she lived with three of her sisters, after his mother's death, he and his sister and brother continued to live with their aunts, who became in effect both father and mother to them. Mr. Purcell lived at Arrow Rock until he reached the age of maturity.
Later he moved with the others in the family to i a small farm south of Marshall where they resided for a number of years. After the death of his aunts and a brother, A. B. Purcell, he and his sister, Miss Nettie Purcell, bought a home in Marshall where they lived until the death of his sister. Having attained the ripe old age of 98 years, he outlived all of his contemporary relatives, so that at the time of his passing he had no relatives left ex• cept cousins.
He was a member of the First Presbyterian church of Marshall, and though he was very hard of hearing as long as he was able, he did attend the services though he could not hear a word of the services. He was an upright man and loved his church and the church people. He was an unusually kind man and at all times thoughtful of others. The Saline County Citizen, October 9, 1958, Page 7. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-saline-county-citizen-george-purcell/194365589/ : accessed March 28, 2026).
Name Dr Charles Lester Lawless
Gender Male
Birth Date 15 May 1876
Birth Place Saline County, Missouri, United States of America
Death Date 23 Aug 1964
Death Place Saline County, Missouri, United States of America
Cemetery Ridge Park Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place Marshall, Saline County, Missouri, United States of America
Father
Thomas Redman Lawless
Mother
Elizabeth Jane Lawless
Spouse
Mary Louise Lawless
Children
Infant Daughter Lawless
Kathryn Louise Bagnell
Mary Charlene Humphreys
Infant Son Lawless
URL
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33364607/charles-lester-lawless
Dr Lawless father was Thomas Redman Lawless, (1828 Virginia - 1899 Saline MO) is found in Arrow Rock census 1850 and 1860 as a slave owner (2). He appears in a 1863 draft listing with no military experience listed. His(TR Lawless) brother Benjamin died in prison taken as a citizen from Cooper Co in Springfield MO Oct 1864, died in 1865 of typhoid fever. His older brother William Bird Lawless fled to California after the war.
I can't prove it but suspect Thomas Redman Lawless was acquainted with YA Purcell before, during and after the war. Further I suspect Dr Charles Lester Lawless was cognizant of his family's war history as well as Purcell's. George P Purcell was the last of the family line with no direct heirs so the gifting of a family heirloom to his old friend Dr Lawless is plausible.