One of the best known physicians in this neighborhood, not only in Manchester but throughout the entire eastern part of the state, is Dr. Francis H. Whiton, of Manchester. For thirty-five years he has practised medicine in the town where he now resides. His prominence in his profession, and his active part in local and state politics have given him widespread prominence. He has for many years been a keen student of national politics and policies, and is an unusually well informed man on general affairs.

He was born in Mansfield, this state, May 16, 1846, and was a son of Chester and Philama (Brown) Whiton. His paternal ancestors came to Connecticut from Hingham, Mass., in 1647, and from Europe a few years earlier. His maternal ancestors came from England in 1626. His ancestors on both sides were in the Colonial and Revolutionary wars. His grandfather on the maternal side was in the war of 1812, and drew as a pension 160 acres of land.

Dr. Whiton's early education was acquired in the public schools and under the instruction of private tutors. He attended the Harvard Medical school and Dartmouth Medical college, graduating from Dartmouth in 1872. In the meantime, he taught in the public schools for six terms. For a year after graduation, he served in a private institution, treating cases of nervous and mental diseases. He also spent a year in New York hospitals. In December, 1873, he came to Manchester, and has been practising in that town ever since.

Dr. Whiton is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Medical Societies, and of the American Medical Association. He is active in local political affairs, and he represented his town in the Connecticut legislature from 1895 to 1899. He opposed the five towns commission for building the bridge, believing that the bridge should be built by the towns of Hartford and East Hartford, or by the state.

Since 1900, the state made all bridges free in Connecticut.

In politics, Dr. Whiton is a Republican. He was married May 17, 1870, to Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of George M. Loomis, of Portsmouth, N. H., but whose birthplace was Connecticut. Mrs. Whiton's ancestors came to this country in 1636, and were in the Revolutionary war. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.