Cemetery records at the Kansas State Historical Society Archives:
Washington Lafayette Schenck
lot owner: Miss Nannie M. Schenck
Lot NE 1/2 344, Section IX, Grave 1
died: 1/4/1910
buried: 1/6/1910
age: 84-10-21
place of birth: Ohio
late residence: Topeka
cause of death: Pneumonia
funeral director: Penwell
interment authorized by Nannie M. Schenck

Topeka Daily Capital, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 1910, page 2:
Dr. W.L. Schenck Dies Following Short Illness
Came to Kansas in 1871 -- Was Surgeon During Civil War
Dr. Washington Lafayette Schenck, aged nearly 85 years, died at his home, 701 Garfield avenue, last night about 8:30 o'clock, after an illness contracted about Thanksgiving time. Dr. Schenck was a comparatively old settler here. He began the active practice of medicine in his home town, Franklin, Ohio, in 1849, and came to Burlingame, Kan., to practice medicine in 1871. He came to Topeka in 1890 and engaged in active practice here, retiring some time ago. He has lived for a number of years with his two unmarried daughters, Misses Nannie M. and Ella S. Schenck, at his home on Garfield avenue.

Thanksgiving day Dr. Schenck, who was a staff surgeon in the volunteer army during the civil war, attended a meeting of the surviving officers of the G.A.R. and made an address favoring half pay for officers of the volunteer army. The next day he was taken ill, having contracted a cold, and grew worse, pneumonia developing, which finally resulted in his death.

Dr. Schenck wasborn at Franklin, Ohio, February 14, 1825. He was the son of Garrett Alexander and Mary (Plume) Schenck. He received his early education from various institutions of learning, all but graduating from the Miami university when the college was closed on account of an epidemic of smallpox. Afterward he studied medicine at several colleges and under private tutors, graduating from Dartmouth medical college in the fall of 1848. The following spring he returned home and began the active practice of his profession in his home town. He has held a number of positions, part of them political and others professorships and trusteeships in public institutions, among them having been that of a trustee for the Kansas medical college.

He was married first to Julia Bliss at Calais, Vt., January 17, 1849. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Dodds, January 16, 1873, at Osage City, Kan.
Dr. Schenck is survived by eight children, two sons and six daughters. They are Dr. C.M. Schenck, Denver, Colo.; S.Z. Schenck, Pueblo, Colo.; Mrs. A.S. Ralston, Bostonia, Cal.; Miss Nannie M. Schenck, 701 Garfield avenue, Topeka; Miss Ella S/ Schenck, 701 Garfield avenue, Topeka; Mrs. A.M. Bunton, 630 Lane street, Topeka; Mrs. J.M. Van Sant, 739 Horne street, Topeka; and Mrs. A.J. Straus, also of Topeka.

Dr. Schenck was the oldest past master of the Masonic order in the state. Owing to his Masonic connections the Knights Templar will have charge of the funeral services, which will be held at the late residence of the deceased Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock. Interment will follow at Mount Hope cemetery.

Having a wide acquaintance over the state, Dr. Schenck has many friends who will regret the passing away of a veteran physician. Before retiring from active life he was well known in Topeka and many other portions of Kansas, and there are many still who know him although he has been living quietly at home. He was a member also of a number of medical organizations and has written numerous articles for publication, some of which have been printed and circulated in pamphlet form.

From a biographical sketch contained in William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, Osage County:
DR. W. L. SCHENCK, was born at Franklin, Warren Co., Ohio, February 14, 1825. His father, Garret A. Schenck, dying when he was only ten years of age, his education was under the care of his generous and living mother - Mary Plume Schenck. When fifteen years of age he was sent to Cary's Academy, Pleasant Hill, Ohio, and from there to Miami University. In 1846 he commenced reading medicine in the office of Dr. David Baird, attending lectures at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, during the winter of 1847-48, and at Dartmouth Medical College, New Hampshire, during the autumn of 1848, when he graduated. During the winter of 1848-49 he attended Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and in the spring of 1849 commenced the practice of his profession in his native village. In 1854 he was appointed by the Warren County Medical Society to report upon the pecuniary remuneration of physicians. The address was published in pamphlet form by order of the society.

Although not a politician, the Doctor took great interest in the first election of Abraham Lincoln, and spoke in his cause. At the outbreak of the Rebellion, he offered his services, and was commissioned, October 1, 1861, Surgeon of the Seventeenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in November, 1862, by request of Maj. Gen. Hamilton, he was appointed to duty on his staff. At the close of this year, on account of failing health, he resigned his commission. He was soon after directed by the Surgeon General to report to Louisville for examination for a commission as United States Surgeon of Volunteers, but feeble health prevented. In the spring of 1863 he was appointed Surgeon on the Board of Enrollment for the Third Ohio district, where he remained until the close of the war.

On the 10th day of August, 1870, his wife, Julia Bliss, of Calais, Vt, whom he married January 17, 1849, died, leaving four children - Charles Meigs, Julia, Allie and Nannie; the oldest then a student at Antioch College, the youngest only eight years of age. Soon after the death of his wife he left his old home and went to Burlington, Iowa, remaining there only a few months and removing thence to Burlingame, Kan., and eight months later to his present home at Osage City. Here he became acquainted with Miss Lizzie Dodds, who was a graduate of the Springfield (Ohio) Female Seminary, and had, with her mother, recently moved to Kansas from Carrollton, Montgomery Co., Ohio. On the 16th of January, 1873, they were married; by which marriage there are four children - Stewart Zwingle, Hellen (sic), Bessie and Eva.

In Kansas the Doctor soon took rank among the leading members of his profession and was made President of the Osage County Medical Society, and also of the East District and State medical societies. He has contributed many valuable papers to the medical press, and has been called upon to read other treatises before the societies, and has been a member of the American Medical Association since 1859. When President of the Kansas State Medical Society, he delivered an address in which he earnestly advocated the establishment of a State Board of Health, and the passage of a law to protect the public against unqualified practitioners. He has been invited to speak on various topics, and has done considerable editorial work. In 1865 he spent the winter in Little Rock, Ark., where he wrote editorials for the first Republican paper established in the State. During the Vallandigham-Schenck campaign in Ohio, he engaged in political work, vigorously opposing the election of the former. He united with the Eastern Star Lodge, No. 55, A., F. & A., M., in 1847, and is a member of Osage City Chapter, R. A. M. and Emporia Commandery, K. T. In his religious connection he is a Presbyterian, though in belief a liberal Christian.

Sent by Find A Grave contributor Laura L.