Robert A. McIlhenny, a successful physician and surgeon of Conway Springs, Kan., was one of the earliest of his profession to locate in that town and during his twenty years' residence there he has won a place as one of its most prominent, useful and respected citizens. His time and place of birth are closely associated with one of the most famous historic events in our country, having been born at Gettysburg, Pa., on Aug. 11, 1866. His parents, Jacob G. and Sarah A. (Lott) McIlhenny, were both natives of Gettysburg where the former was born in 1828 and the latter in 1831. Both have been laid to rest, the father's death having occurred in 1903 and that of the mother in 1902. Their respective parents were likewise natives of Pennsylvania and were among the organizers of the Great Conewago Presbyterian Church near Gettysburg in 1787. The edifice is still intact and there the descendants of the McIlhenny family gather each year for a family reunion, the descendants now numbering about one hundred and fifty and being scattered all over the United States. On the paternal side Dr. McIlhenny is of Scotch-Irish lineage and from his mother inherits traits of Holland ancestors. His parents were married about 1850 and to them were born eight children—seven sons and one daughter—as follows: Hugh McCrea, deceased; Henry Lott, a successful physician of Norwich, Kan., who was killed in a railroad wreck at Warrensburg, Mo., in 1904; William Bell, now postmaster at Gettysburg, Pa.; Jacob Harrison, a merchant at Kingman, Kan.; Dr. Robert A., of this sketch; John King, now an iron manufacturer at Steelton, Pa.; Mary Rebecca, deceased; and James Gray, assistant postmaster at Gettysburg, Pa.

Dr. McIlhenny received his literary education in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the State Normal School at Shippensburg, Pa. His professional education and training were obtained at Sterling Medical College, Columbus, Ohio, where he remained one year, and at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill., where he graduated in March, 1891. He at once came to Conway Springs, Kan., where he began his practice in which he has in the succeeding years been very successful and which is now one of the most extensive in Sumner county. For sixteen years he was local surgeon for the Missouri-Pacific railroad and is at the present time the medical examiner for both the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

On Dec. 20, 1892, Dr. McIlhenny was united in marriage to Miss Edith Allen Campbell, a daughter of Quinton Campbell, a pioneer merchant of Conway Springs. Mr. Campbell was a native of Pennsylvania and at one time was the western passenger and freight agent of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company. He died in 1900. Mrs. Campbell was a Kentuckian by birth. Mrs. McIlhenny, a woman of refinement and culture, is a graduate of the music department of Garfield University at Wichita, Kan. Dr. and Mrs. McIlhenny have one son, Robert Campbell, born Sept. 3, 1894, who is now a high school student at Conway Springs. Dr. McIlhenny finds time aside from his professional duties to participate in the public life of his community. He is president of the local school board and has served as mayor of Conway Springs two years. In politics he is an adherent of the progressive branch of the Republican party, and affiliates fraternally with the Masonic order. He has prospered financially and owns several fine farms near Conway Springs. Both Dr. and Mrs. McIlhenny are numbered among the most popular and respected citizens of Conway Springs.