From the Broad Ax newspaper Chicago, IL December 22. 1917:
Dr John Dill Robertson, health commissioner of Chicago, was born in Mechanicsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of March, 1871. His father was Thomas Sanderson Robertson, who served with distinction as a lieutenant of the 66th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Civil War. The elder Robertson had married Miss Malinda McCurdy, who was left a widow by the untimely death of her husband when John Dill Robertson was but ten months old. The childhood of the man who is now one of the foremost surgeons In the United States ran along in much the same channels as that of the average boy of his years in the Pennsylvania town.
It is worthy of note that at the age of twelve years he was cast upon his own resources and , responding to the call of fate, set out to make his own way in life.
The vicissitudes and struggles of his early encounter with the stern realities of the world served in no slight measure to mold the excellent inherent qualities of the youth and give him that element of firmness and decision so essential to those who have it in them to do and dare. The first position taken by the young John was in the capacity of a clerkship in a combination drug store and grocery, these institutions being quite common in the East at that time. He remained in this connection for about three years, at the expiration of, which time he took up telegraphy. Within a comparatively short space of time he was holding a position as operator on the CB & Q Railroad, later being promoted to the post as dispatcher in the same system.
In 1893 the subject of this sketch, well tested by his actual contact with the world of cold fact and experience, migrated to Chicago, where he decided to take up the study and practice of medicine and surgery for his life work.
Pursuing the regular course of studies, he graduated from the Bennett Medical College, now the medical department of Loyola University. In 1896 he entered the Cook County Hospital as an intern, in which this well known institution he served for a period of one year and one half. From this time on, the career of Dr Robertson has been one constant succession of milestones on the roadway of successful attainment.
Among the many various achievements which must be directly attributed to the enormous energy and aggressive spirit of Dr Robertson are the establishment of the Francis Willard Hospital , the building of the Jefferson Park Hospital and the building of the American Medical College, now known under the name of the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery.
In 1908 Dr Robertson took over the Bennett Medical College of Loyola University, which, from various causes, was now in a run-down condition, and becoming president of this institution, set about at once to improve it and bring it up to the standard set by the most modernly equipped schools of the country. So successful were his efforts in this direction that the Bennett Medical College now ranks second in Chicago in number of students.
Dr Robertson is a member of the State Board of Agriculture of Illinois, in charge of education, and was the founder of the State Fair School for Boys, and is professor of surgery at the Bennett Medical College, of which he is president, and has filled, at other periods in his professional career, the chairs of chemistry and pathology.
Dr Robertson's star rose quickly in the world of medicine and surgery, in a comparatively short space of time he became known as Chicago's foremost surgeon. Few indeed have met with the phenomenal success which has attended him in his professional pursuits. His success has been attained only by his tremendous physical energy, his unbounded devotion to the study of medicine and surgery which has become to him a life passion.

From the Broad Ax newspaper Chicago, IL December 22. 1917:
Dr John Dill Robertson, health commissioner of Chicago, was born in Mechanicsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on the 8th of March, 1871. His father was Thomas Sanderson Robertson, who served with distinction as a lieutenant of the 66th Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Civil War. The elder Robertson had married Miss Malinda McCurdy, who was left a widow by the untimely death of her husband when John Dill Robertson was but ten months old. The childhood of the man who is now one of the foremost surgeons In the United States ran along in much the same channels as that of the average boy of his years in the Pennsylvania town.
It is worthy of note that at the age of twelve years he was cast upon his own resources and , responding to the call of fate, set out to make his own way in life.
The vicissitudes and struggles of his early encounter with the stern realities of the world served in no slight measure to mold the excellent inherent qualities of the youth and give him that element of firmness and decision so essential to those who have it in them to do and dare. The first position taken by the young John was in the capacity of a clerkship in a combination drug store and grocery, these institutions being quite common in the East at that time. He remained in this connection for about three years, at the expiration of, which time he took up telegraphy. Within a comparatively short space of time he was holding a position as operator on the CB & Q Railroad, later being promoted to the post as dispatcher in the same system.
In 1893 the subject of this sketch, well tested by his actual contact with the world of cold fact and experience, migrated to Chicago, where he decided to take up the study and practice of medicine and surgery for his life work.
Pursuing the regular course of studies, he graduated from the Bennett Medical College, now the medical department of Loyola University. In 1896 he entered the Cook County Hospital as an intern, in which this well known institution he served for a period of one year and one half. From this time on, the career of Dr Robertson has been one constant succession of milestones on the roadway of successful attainment.
Among the many various achievements which must be directly attributed to the enormous energy and aggressive spirit of Dr Robertson are the establishment of the Francis Willard Hospital , the building of the Jefferson Park Hospital and the building of the American Medical College, now known under the name of the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery.
In 1908 Dr Robertson took over the Bennett Medical College of Loyola University, which, from various causes, was now in a run-down condition, and becoming president of this institution, set about at once to improve it and bring it up to the standard set by the most modernly equipped schools of the country. So successful were his efforts in this direction that the Bennett Medical College now ranks second in Chicago in number of students.
Dr Robertson is a member of the State Board of Agriculture of Illinois, in charge of education, and was the founder of the State Fair School for Boys, and is professor of surgery at the Bennett Medical College, of which he is president, and has filled, at other periods in his professional career, the chairs of chemistry and pathology.
Dr Robertson's star rose quickly in the world of medicine and surgery, in a comparatively short space of time he became known as Chicago's foremost surgeon. Few indeed have met with the phenomenal success which has attended him in his professional pursuits. His success has been attained only by his tremendous physical energy, his unbounded devotion to the study of medicine and surgery which has become to him a life passion.