William Thomas Courtwright, of Sedan, Kan., the leading physician of that enterprising city, is a native of Ohio, born at Roscoe, Coshocton county, July 21, 1865. He is a son of Richard and Elizabeth A. (Edwards) Courtwright, both born in Coshocton, Ohio. When a young man, the father responded to Lincoln's call for troops, in 1861, by enlisting in the Thirty-second Ohio infantry, with which he served until his death, in a skirmish in 1865. Just six months before his death he had wedded Miss Elizabeth A. Edwards, who was a teacher and who bravely took up the burden of rearing and educating her son who, since his student days, has reciprocated with filial tenderness her early devotion to his welfare, and has made her an honored and loved member of his household. Mrs. Courtwright taught for years and thus provided the means for her son's education. After graduating in the high school at Coshocton, Ohio, in 1882, he entered the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and completed a medical course in that excellent institution, in 1886. He located for practice, first at Homeville, Ohio, from where he removed to Arkansas City, Kan., and from there to Sedan, in 1891. There, for over twenty years, Dr. Courtwright has been an active practitioner of medicine and has won a reputation as the leading physician of Chautauqua county. His practice has been extensive and remunerative and he has acquired valuable property in Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. His interest in his profession and its advancement is indicated by his membership in the different medical associations, being a member of the Chautauqua County Medical Society, the Kansas State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He has been health officer of Chautauqua county for nearly twenty years, and is also a pension examiner and district surgeon for the Missouri Pacific railroad.

In 1886 Dr. Courtwright was united in marriage to Miss Edith Belle, daughter of Edwin Ewing. Mr. Ewing was a native of Ohio and a farmer, a son of Capt. John Ewing, of Ohio fame. Mrs. Courtwright was a student at Wooster University, Wooster, Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Courtwright have three sons living: Edwin C., a graduate of the Sedan High School, has determined on the profession of his father as his life's line of endeavor and is now reading medicine; William Wayne is a student in the Sedan High School; and Gale E. is not yet of school age. Dr. Courtwright is a Republican and takes an active interest in the work of his party. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.