Ira R. Wetherill, M. D.

Ira R. Wetherill, M. D., one of the leading physicians
and surgeons of Bluffton, was born July 21, 1853, in Hardin County, near
the village of West Newton. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Gloyd)
Wetherill. His father was born in Lincolnshire, England, March 19,
1809, and was 10 years of age when his father, whose name was also John,
came from England and settled in Virginia. Later they came to Richland
County, Ohio, where the grandfather of our subject died at the age of 45
years, leaving five sons and two daughters. John Wetherill, Jr., was
married n 1836 to Elizabeth Gloyd, who was born in Rockingham County
Virginia, in 1816, and came with her parents to Richland County, where
she was married. In 1839 Mr. Wetherill took his family to Hardin
County, where he cleared and put under cultivation a large tract of
land. He was an industrious, thrifty man, a devout Methodist, and in
early years a Democrat, although after the nomination of Lincoln he
supported the Republican ticket until his death in 1899. His wife died
in Hardin County in her 49th year, leaving 14 children, all of whom grew
to adult years except the youngest, who died in infancy. Of this family,
12 were married and eight are now living.
Ira R. Wetherill attended public schools and engaged in teaching
district schools for several terms, supplementing this with a course in
the university at Ada, and, later, in the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, Baltimore, Maryland. Graduating from this institution in 1881,
he at once began the practice of his profession at Beaver Dam, where he
remained 10 years before locating in Bluffton. He enjoys a large general
practice and has been very successful in his work.
In 1874 Dr.Wetherill was married to Susan A. Lattimore, who was
born in Hardin County, Ohio, April 24, 1857, and was a daughter of John
and Sarah (Shanks) Lattimore of that county. Mrs. Wetherill died in
1895, leaving three children, namely: Ova, wife of Row Ewing, of
Bluffton; Webb; and Cliff, a freshman in the medical college at
Columbus, Ohio. Webb is a soldier in the United States Army, and served
three years in the light artillery, two of them being spent in the
Philippines. He served three years in the coast artillery, when he was
stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York and has but recently reenlisted in
California in the light artillery. The Doctor is a Republican. He is a
member of the Knights of Pythias of Bluffton and is a genial, popular
gentleman. He is president of the Bluffton Telephone Company, having
held the office during the past four years.