A woman's suffrage and women's rights leader, she was also the founder of the Montgomery County, Indiana Orphans' home.

With her savings and assistance from a financial aid fund, she entered the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1854.

On account of her sex, she was not allowed membership in medical associations, but she gained popularity nonetheless.

In 1869, she arranged for a convention, in which Mary Livermore, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were speakers.

[4] In 1869, she co-organized the Woman's Suffrage Association of Montgomery County, Indiana, and also served as secretary.

Wilhite contributed regularly to the local newspapers on the subject of suffrage,[2] and other topics which interested her.

She died at her home in Crawfordsville, February 8, 1892, from congestion of the lungs,[7][1] after contracting pneumonia during a house call with a patient.

[8] She was honored in 2020 in a virtual celebration of the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th amendment, both for her work as a suffragette and contributions to local philanthropy efforts.