Dole, William P.

Born: 1811-12-03 Caledonia County, Vermont

Died: 1889-09-30 Washington, DC

Flourished: Paris, Illinois

William P. Dole, Republican politician and merchant, was born in Danville, Vermont. At the age of two, he moved with his family to Bedford, New Hampshire, remaining there until 1818, when his family moved to Ohio. The family subsequently moved to Indiana, settling two miles north of Terre Haute. In 1831, Dole moved to Clinton, Indiana, where he was a grocer, dry-goods merchant, pork-packer, and produce dealer. He served eight years in the Indiana General Assembly. After moving to Paris, Illinois, he opened a dry goods store. Dole served as a delegate from Edgar County to the 1860 Republican National Convention. He was a Commissioner of Indian Affairs under President Abraham Lincoln and an anti-slavery advocate.

Dole married Susannah Rush in February 1833 in Vermillion County, Indiana. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter, before Susannah died in October 1838. In June 1839, Dole married Jane Bryson.

The Mattoon Gazette (IL), 4 October 1889, 5:3; Indiana, U.S., Marriage Index, 1800-1941, 15 February 1833, Vermillion County (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2005); Indiana Marriges Database through 1850, Vermillon County, 16 June 1839, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Clinton, Vermillion County, IN, 1; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1861 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1862), 81; Register of Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1863 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1864), 105; The History of Edgar County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1879), 569-70; Gravestone, Edgar Cemetery, Paris, IL.