All three boys that grew up in the household of William and Eliza Cheney became doctors.
E.R. (Enos) Cheney
After graduation from McPherson High School, Enos Cheney enrolled in the Kansas City Medical College in 1888. Enos is our 2nd great-grandfather.
In the three-year structure, first-year students spent four hours in didactic lectures with four to six hours in laboratory or dissection work. Second-year students again spent four hours in didactic lectures with two to four hours in clinical instruction. Third-year students had only two hours of didactic lectures with four to six hours of clinical practice.
Kansas City Medical College – 1869-1905
First year medical students in dissecting room – Univ of Penn. – 1890
Enos graduated in 1891, awarded the Faculty prize as second best standing in his class.
Graduation Program – Kansas City Medical College – 1891
Kansas City Medical College
Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded by Dr. Simeon S. Todd and associates in December 1869, the first medical college in the city. The program would be increased to three years in 1882. At that time the name of the school became Kansas City Medical College.
Kansas City Medical College – 1869-1905
Some time before 1895 the college moved to the Northwest corner of Seventh and Washington. The 1895 Announcement notes that the building has been rebuilt making it “new and commodious.” The image shows it to be three stories over a basement with labs and lecture rooms to meet the needs of an enlarged enrollment. It contained a dispensary for the treatment of walk in patients. Students had access to five area hospitals for clinical experience.
Kansas City Medical College – 1869-1905
Kansas City Medical College – ca. 1890
University of Kansas School of Medicine
In 1905 K.C.M.C. president Robert M. Schauffler arranged for his school to become the upper-level clinical department of the University of Kansas Medical College, which had only a two-year program at the time.
The Kansas City Medical College, along with all its students and all its faculty physicians, would become part of the new University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Kansas City Medical College – 1869-1905
J.W. (Will) Cheney
Will Cheney enrolled in the Kansas City Medical College in 1895.
Will graduated in 1898, awarded the Holden prize as top student in his class.
J.W. Cheney established his practice in Kingman, Kansas, spending ten years there.
The Kingman Journal – January 5, 1900
In 1910, J.W. Cheney spent a year in Vienna, Austria for additional training to become a specialist in Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat (EENT). He moved his practice to Wichita, Kansas in 1911, where he was on the board of the Wichita Hospital.
The Cheney Sentinel – January 20, 1916
In 1918 and 1919, Ralph (Ned) Cheney would intern with his uncle J.W. during the summers in Wichita, influencing his decision to become an EENT Ophthalmologist.
During those same years, Emily Maninger was enrolled in Wichita Hospital School of Nursing. There she met Ned Cheney. They were married in 1921.
W.G. (Glenn) Cheney
Glenn Cheney enrolled in the Western Dental College in Kansas City in 1898, and graduated in 1902.
Glenn was nephew of William and Eliza Cheney, but had mostly lived with them since his father died in 1874.
Western Dental College
The Western Dental College (1890-1919) was the third school of dental education to be founded in Kansas City. In 1890 Kansas City was a community of 132,716 with sixty-one dentists serving the populace.
A History of the Western Dental College – Ralph W. Edwards
Western Dental School baseball team – ca early 1900s
“A History of the Western Dental College” is a publication by Ralph W. Edwards that details the history of the Western Dental College, a dental school founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1890, which eventually became part of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry after merging with the Kansas City Dental College in 1919.
University of Missouri Kansas City – School of Dentistry
Western Dental School – ca 1900
Dr. Glenn Cheney opened his practice in Newton, Kansas. He practiced there many years, later moving to Long Beach, California.
Family Nibbles 
