WILLIAM WADDLE, physician, was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, Sept. 19, 1811.  His grandfather was a native of Ireland, and emigrated, with his wife, to America in 1787, bringing with him a daughter and three sons.  They settled first in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and afterward removed to Brooke County, Virginia.  John, his second son, was one of the early merchants of Chillicothe, and the father of the subject of this sketch.  He came to reside in Ross County in the year 1800, and entered into business in the then small town of Chillicothe, and was married a few years later to Nancy Mann, of Lexington, Kentucky.  William Waddle commenced his education at the Chillicothe Academy, and from there went to Ohio University, but left that institution at the age of eighteen.  After leaving the university he worked on his father's farm, in Clarke county, until the year 1834, when he returned to Chillicothe, and commenced the study of medicine, as a pupil of Dr. Fullerton, who was at that time the leading physician of the town.  He attended the lectures of the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and graduated there in 1836.  After traveling a year in the South, he established himself in the practice of medicine in his native town, and proudly desirous of winning his way unaided in the profession, did not seek a partnership with any elderly practitioner, though at first he found some difficulty in gaining the confidence of the community on account of his youthful appearance - being at that time but twenty-six years of age.  As in many a similar instance, the poor and friendless were his first patients, yet for them he worked faithfully, giving them the best of his professional skill and the devotion of his time.  The experience, if not remunerative, became valuable as a practice, and in course of time, by his assiduity and expertness, he succeeded in conquering the prejudice that almost every young physician has to contend with, namely, that of being thought too young.  He practiced alone and with increasing success until the year 1865, when, finding that his practice was growing too large for one person to attend to, he associated with him Jefferson B. Scearce, and they have now the largest and most lucrative practice ever enjoyed by any members of the profession in Ross County.  In the eyar 1863 Dr. Waddle was appointed trustee of the Ohio University, and in 1868 was also appointed trustee of the Athens Lunatic Asylum, and held that position until the year 1878, when he resigned.  Two yeas later he accepted the appointment of trustee of the Central Lunatic Asylum, at Columbus, which appointment, together with the trusteeship of the Ohio University, he still holds.  As a physician he ranks high, possessing those qualities with which success in no pursuit of life is achieved - indefatigability, self-reliance, and steady, persevering industry.  Possessed of a remarkably robust constitution, he has been enabled to perform an unusual amount of work requiring patience and endurance.  In the early days of his practice, with almost impassable roads to travel, it required the exercise, in a high degree of those virtues.  Of good personal appearance and pleasant demeanor, Dr. Waddle commands the respect of the community where he has lived so long.  And though now over seventy-two yeas of age, he has apparently lost none of his youthful vigor, and still gives his personal attention to his many patients, some of whom live in adjoining counties.  In 1845 he married Jane S. McCoy, the daughter of a prominent merchant of Chillicothe, who has borne him nine children, of whom eight are living.  The eldest daughter is married to Mr. Alexander Renick.
Source:  A Biographical Cyclopaedia and Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Men, with an Historical Sketch of the State of Ohio, publ. 1879 - Pg. 368
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