Ross, Joshua W.

Born: 1817-06-12 Kentucky

Died: 1880-XX-XX

Flourished: Vandalia, Illinois

Joshua W. Ross was a lawyer, justice of the peace, county judge, and postmaster. Ross moved with his parents from his native Kentucky to Illinois in 1829, settling on a farm in Coles County. He spent his early years working on the family farm and periodically attending school. In 1836, Ross moved to Fayette County, where he worked in the building trade. In June 1838, he married Martha J. Philips, with whom he would have six children. From February to May 1839, Ross was postmaster of Mulberry Grove in Bond County. He served as postmaster of Vandalia, from May 1849 to April 1853. In 1850, he owned real property valued at $550. In 1857, Ross earned admission to the Illinois bar and entered into a partnership with Arthur J. Gallagher. He later practiced law alongside Beverly W. Henry, a partnership that continued until 1861. In 1860, Ross was practicing law and living in Vandalia and owned real property valued at $1,500 and a personal estate of $300. He held several local and county positions, including a long stint as a justice of the peace and two terms as Fayette County judge. Ross was an adherent of the Whig Party until the party dissolved in 1856, after which he joined the Democratic Party. Ross was among the charter members of the Friends' Lodge, No. 122, of the Masons. Ross joined his wife and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

History of Fayette County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1878), 20, 47, 52; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 2:866; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Fayette County, 12 June 1838, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971, NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls, Records of the Post Office Department, RG 28, 1832-1844, 12B:476; 1845-1855, 18:54, National Archives Building, Washington, DC; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1849 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1849), 490*; Register of all Officers and Agents, Civil, Military, and Naval, in the Service of the United States, on the Thirtieth September, 1851 (Washington, DC: Gideon, 1851), *551; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Fayette County, IL, 387; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Vandalia, Fayette County, IL, 27; Gravestone, Old State Cemetery, Vandalia, IL.