Saltonstall, William L.

Born: 1823-03-06 Christian County, Kentucky

Died: 1899-07-14 Missouri

Flourished: Cambridge, Missouri

William L. Saltonstall was a farmer. Born outside Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Saltonstall moved with his family from his native Kentucky to Tremont, Illinois, when he was sixteen years old. In February 1850, he married Mary E. Page, with whom he had two children. While living in Illinois, Saltonstall retained Lincoln & Herndon as the plaintiff in a land dispute in which he was eventually awarded over $3,000 when the defendants failed to appear in court. He paid Lincoln & Herndon $50 for their work on the case. Saltonstall was also a defendant in three other cases involving Lincoln & Herndon. Around 1854, Saltonstall moved first to Howard County, Missouri, before settling in Saline County, where he purchased the farm where he would live for the rest of his life. In 1860, he was farming in Saline County and owned real property valued at $9,450 and had a personal estate of $5,630. Saltonstall owned three female enslaved persons in 1860. He died outside of Slater, Missouri, likely from a stroke.

Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Fulton County, 23 February 1850, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Saline County, MO, 574; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedule, Saline County, MO, 3; Slater Missouri Index, 20 July 1899, 1:5; Saltonstal v Edes et ux., Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), https://lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org/Details.aspx?case=137492; For other Saltonstall cases involving Lincoln, search "Saltonstall, William L.," The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Gravestone, Slater City Cemetery, Gilliam, MO.