DR. JAMES H. WHITFORD was born at Circleville, Pickaway Co., Ohio, in April 1822, and for some years assisted his father in wool-carding mills. After reaching the age of manhood he was for a time engaged in contracting for and in the construction of public works through Ohio and Virginia. In 1852 he went to California, where for two years he followed gold-mining. In 1856 he began the study of medicine, attended Starling Medical College, Ohio, and graduated in the class of 1858. He then practiced his profession at Royalton, Ohio, for three years. In August 1861 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Thirty-sixth Ohio Infantry, and was commissioned Surgeon in March 1862, which position he filled until July 29, 1865. After the battle of Antietam he acted as Brigade Surgeon. After the battle of Chickamauga he acted as Medical Director of the Fourth Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and was for some months Medical Director of the Wheeling district. After the war he practiced at Circleville. The Doctor came to Garnett in May 1867, and has since followed the practice of his profession in this locality. I found this biography while researching a family line who moved to Anderson County, KS. This is the complete biography, but the book contains much historical data that may be of interest. The book in which these biographies can be found is: William G. Cutler's "History of the State of Kansas" first published in 1883 by A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL.This is a HUGE book and spans two volumes that are 600+ page each. The information in the book is arranged alphabetically by county. The book has been transcribed and can be found at this website: http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/books/cutler/