James Claude Wilhoit, M. D. This is the name of a prominent young physician and surgeon at Manhattan, but a man who in spite of his years has attained an enviable prominence in the professional and business life of his home state. Doctor Wilhoit has those natural gifts which together with thorough training make the proficient surgeon. His work is now largely surgery and diagnosis.
He was born at Westmoreland in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, July 14, 1885, a son of Dr. John W. and Jennie (Armstrong) Wilhoit. His parents were natives of Kentucky, where they married, and they came to Kansas in 1884 and since 1885 Dr. John W. Wilhoit has practiced medicine with success at St. George, Kansas, and in that vicinity. He is one of the well known men of his county, and has won an enviable reputation in his profession.
The early youth of Dr. J. C. Wilhoit was spent in the community of St. George. He attended the public schools there and later the State Normal School at Emporia. In 1907 he graduated M. D. from the University of Louisville, Kentucky. His first practical experience was at St. George, but after a year he located at Manhattan, where he has gained a large and lucrative practice.
Doctor Wilhoit is a member of the Riley County and the Kansas State Medical societies and the American Medical Association, and in 1915 was elected president of the county society and also president of the Golden Belt Medical Society. Ever since graduating he has taken every opportunity to associate with the leaders of the profession in America and secure the benefit of further study and observation. He spent some time in the Post-Graduate School of Medicine at New York City and has attended the clinics of the famous Mayo brothers at Rochester, Minnesota, and also the clinics of Chicago’s foremost surgeon, John B. Murphy. He is a member of the American Clinical Surgical Congress.
Doctor Wilhoit is interested in a number of business affairs and is a member of the board of directors for the Kansas Life Insurance Company. He is well known in fraternal circles, being a Knight Templar Mason and Mystic Shriner and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1908 he married Ethel J. Peck of St. Joseph, Missouri.