Wolfley, Lewis, 1807-1844.

Lewis Wolfley was born in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1807, to John Wolfley and Elizabeth Heintzelman. When he was eleven years old, Lewis Wolfley travelled to Ohio with his older sister and her husband, and settled in Circleville, Ohio, where, at the age of eighteen, he was granted the right to practice medicine. He later moved to Athens, Ohio, to establish a private practice, but left in the fall of 1829 to attend the Ohio Medical College. After graduating, he settled in Lancaster, Ohio, where he resumed private practice.

Wolfley applied for the position of naval surgeon, and on June 22, 1832, he received his commission. He was first assigned to the sloop St. Louis at Norfolk, sailing to join the West Indies squadron in October, and then received an appointment to the U.S.S. Delaware, which was headed to the Mediterranean. In October 1835, when the Delaware sailed back to the United States, Wolfley remained in Paris to study medicine and witness operations under Dr. Velpeau. He left Paris in July 1836 and returned to Ohio. Shortly after his return, he sat for examination before the board of naval surgeons and was promoted to assistant surgeon on 8 November 1836. On February 14, 1837, he married Eleanor Ann Irvin.

...