BIOGRAPHY - Jonathan D. Wylie
JONATHAN DIXON WYLIE, M. D., was born in Chester District, S. C, in
1825, and was a son of Samuel and Agnes Wylie. His parents were natives of
Chester County, S. C., and were descended from old families of the Palmetto
State. The Doctor's ancestors were originally from Scotland and the first to
come to America were Associate Reform Presbyterians, who came from Scotland
and settled in South Carolina. Samuel Wylie was strongly opposed to slavery,
although reared in its midst and served by slaves, the property of his
father. When he had attained to man's estate, he made his home in the
abolition State of Indiana, where he reared his children to a love of
freedom for all the human family. Many of the family descended from the
original South Carolina stock have achieved a prominence in the learned
professions and in statesmanship, and especially in the medical profession.
Dr. Wylie received his literary education in the State University of
Indiana, and was graduated in 1850 from the Ohio Medical College of
Cincinnati. He came at once to Illinois and established himself in practice
in Oakland, Coles County, then almost a wilderness. He was married in Beaver
Falls, Pa., in 1851, to Miss Agnes Crawford. The lady is a native of Beaver
Falls and a daughter of Samuel Crawford of that place. Dr. Wylie and his
wife reared three sons: Samuel M., the eldest, is a practicing physician of
Paxton and his sketch is given elsewhere in this work; Allen D. is in
railway employ in the West, and Oscar H., the youngest, is the present
Deputy Clerk of the Court of Ford County and is in discharge of the whole
duties of that office.
In 1862, Dr. Wylie entered the service of the United States for the late war
as Assistant Surgeon of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, was
promoted to be Surgeon of the regiment and served until the close of the
war, doing good and faithful service. On his return from the army, he
resumed practice in Oakland, where he continued to reside until 1868, when
he came to Paxton and was in active practice in this city until his fatal
illness. His death occurred on the 5th of March, 1876.
Dr. Wylie was a member of the State Medical Society of Illinois and of the
American Society of the United States. He also held membership with the
United Presbyterian Church of Paxton, as does his wife, and was an earnest
Republican in politics. As a physician, he was talented and skillful and
throughout his days of activity maintained a large and lucrative practice.
Extracted 22 Aug 2019 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, page 260.
