DR. WILBUR B. CRESSWELL, who has been successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry at Neillsville for the last seventeen years, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 15, 1873, son of John S. and Mary Virginia (Beers) Cresswell. His paternal grandfather was Jacob Cresswell, a native of Pennsylvania, and a civil engineer by profession. The remoter ancestors of Dr. Cresswell were of Scotch-Irish origin, and some of them served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War. John S. Cresswell was the fourth born of a family of twelve children, his birth taking place in Huntington, Pa., Feb. 19, 1844.

His life was devoted to mercantile pursuits, but he kept up the military record of the family by serving in the Civil War as a member of the 20th or 22d Pennsylvania Cavalry. While he never joined the Grand Army of the Republic, he belonged to the association composed of the survivors of cavalry regiments that served in the war. He was so unselfish a man that he never drew or applied for a pension, as he was never in need of it. His death took place in Philadelphia, in 1901.

His wife was born at Curwensville, Clearfield County, Pa., and a daughter of Robert and Harriett (Hill) Beers, her father being a Methodist minister and a member of the Baltimore conference. His wife, Dr. Cresswell's mother, is still living in Philadelphia. They had three children--Charles N., a marine engineer, connected with the government navy department Lillian Keen, wife of Rev. Frederick Coleman, a Methodist minister, and Wilbur B. Wilbur B. Cresswell, after attending the public schools of Philadelphia, took up the study of dentistry at the Drexel Institute of Philadelphia, being graduated in 1893.

He practiced his profession for four years in that city, after which he located in Kaukauna, Wis., coming to Neillsville three years later, in 1900. Here he opened an office in the Neillsville Bank Building, where he has since been located, having built up a good patronage here and throughout the surrounding territory. He is a member of the Masonic Order, belonging to the Blue Lodge and Chapter in Neillsville. His son, Charles, graduated from the high school here. Dr. Cresswell is Republican in politics, but his chief attention is given to his profession, of which he is an expert practitioner. As a reliable and public spirited citizen he stands high in the community.