Charles O. Wiltfong, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Charles O. Wiltfong
DR. CHARLES O. WILTFONG, of Chesterton, is a prominent young member of the medical profession in Porter county whose marked ability and skillful application of his acquirements to practical use have already brought him, success and prestige in his exacting profession. His value to the community, however, is not limited to that of his particular line of endeavor, for he is also identified with the commercial life of Chesterton and is there recognized as one of the town's most public-spirited and useful citizens.
Dr. Wiltfong is a native Hoosier, born in Plymouth, Indiana, in July, 1876, to John W. and Sarah E. (Wade) Wiltfong, who are still residents of that city. His grandfather, Noah Wiltfong, was born in Pennsylvania, and with his family migrated from that state to Indiana, locating in Marshall county, where they were pioneer settlers. Noah Wiltfong was a farmer by occupation. Of his six children, five are living at the present date (1912). John W. Wiltfong, the father of Dr. Wiltfong, was born and reared in Marshall county, Indiana, and acquired a common school education. For twenty-five years he was one of the successful business men of Plymouth and has also been prominent in the public life of Marshall county, having served as county clerk four years. He has taken an active and leading part in the political affairs of the Republican party in Marshall county and has served as a committeeman and as chairman of the Marshall county Republican central committee. He was married to Sarah E. Wade, likewise a native of Marshall county, and to their union were born five children, three of whom are living. One of the two children deceased passed away at the age of seventeen and the other one died when twenty-one years of age.
Dr. Wiltfong was reared in Plymouth, where he received a high school education. In 1897 he matriculated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago, Illinois, and after completing a full course was graduated in 1901 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During his last year in that institution he served as house surgeon, an honorary appointment. He then located at Chesterton, Indiana, where in a little more than ten years he has built up a practice of unusually large proportions and where his success has proved his talent and ability. He remains a diligent student and investigator and further evinces a wide-awake and distinctly progressive professional spirit by his identification with the different medical fraternities, being a member of the Porter County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Kankakee Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On June 7, 1907, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Wiltfong and Miss Grace L. Axe. Mrs. Wiltfong is a graduate of the Plymouth high school and is a member of the Christian church. The fraternal associations of Dr. Wiltfong are as a member of Chesterton Lodge, No. 442, Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor commander, and which order he has represented as a member of the Grand Lodge and as deputy grand chancellor of the third district. He also affiliates with Lodge No. 500, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at Valparaiso, Indiana. Politically he is a Republican and is one of the town trustees of Chesterton. He is further associated with the business life of his community as a stockholder and a director in the Chesterton State Bank. Merit is the ladder upon which Dr. Wiltfong has climbed to success and has won a standing as one of the strong professional men of Porter county, and he well deserves mention as one of its strongest and most esteemed citizens.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 833-834
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook