William Fithian was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 7, 1799. One of America's Oldest Physicians, he trained as a printer, once typing a volume of enactments by the
Ohio General Assembly. With the money made from that job, he studied medicine. After three years, he was awarded a diploma. Under the state laws at the time, this also entitled him to be an Associate Justice of the county court. In 1826, he decided to move west to
Danville, Illinois, then a town of a few hundred people. He would remain in Danville until his death. Fithian became involved with the local
Whig Party. He was elected to the
Illinois House of Representatives in 1834, serving a two-year term. In 1838, he successfully ran for the
Illinois Senate and served a pair of four-year terms. When the
Republican Party was formed in 1856, Fithian was named a
presidential elector. He campaigned on behalf of Lincoln for President in 1860. At the end of the conflict, he returned to the practice of medicine. He is the namesake of
Fithian, Illinois, near Danville. ==References==