John Wesley Thomas, M.D.
John Wesley Thomas, M. D., fifth son of James B., and Esther A. Thomas, was born near Winchester, Ohio, September 16. 1850. He was educated in the common schools of Adams County, and in 1871 he entered upon the profession of teaching in the Public schools.
After having been engaged in that business for several years, he began the study of medicine, with his brother. Dr. F. M. Thomas. In 1878. he attended his first course of lectures in the College of Phvsicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, Iowa. His second course of lectures was taken in the Ketucky School of Medicine, at Louisville, Ky., graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1879.
In March, 1880, he emigrated to the State of Kansas, locating at Clavton, Norton County, where he at once began the practice of medicine. He was a member of the Board of Pension Examining Surgeons of his county from 1888 to 1892. He belongs to the Masonic faternity, is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics, he is a Republican, but has never been a candidate for any political office.
In May, 1895, the Doctor was married to Miss Roberta Butler, daughter of Amon and Phoebe E. Butler. Their children are Irene Eleanor, Francis Marion and James Baldwin. In 1897, he removed to Lyle, Kansas, his present location, where he has a large and lucrative practice.
Dr. Thomas is a man who is widely and well known in his profession and one who lends lustre to it. He is a thorough physician, a skillful surgeon, and a superior business man. He is modest and unassuming in his demeanor, has a large and lucrative practice and occupies an enviable position, both professionally and socially, being a gentleman of rare personal qualities and of thorough general culture. He is inflexible, though not dogmatic in his opinions, generous and warmhearted, liberal, the very personification of integrity, and he enjoys, to a marked degree, the respect and confidence of a large circle of acquaintances.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900