Ward, William L.

Born: 1802-09-24 Pennsylvania

Died: 1872-07-19 Shelby County, Illinois

Flourished: Shelby County, Illinois

William L. Ward was a farmer, landowner, and early settler of Shelby County, Illinois. Ward emigrated from Shelby County, Kentucky to Shelby County, Illinois, in 1828, settling northeast of Shelbyville in Todd's Point Township. He later moved to the settlement on Robinson Creek, where he lived the remainder of his life. In 1835, Ward was among the Shelby County residents to urge the Illinois General Assembly to build a railroad from the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the Ohio River. In 1836, he purchased eighty acres of public land just across the northern border in Christian County. From 1848 to 1865, Ward acquired 1,112 acres of public land in Shelby and Moultrie counties. In 1860, he was farming and owned real property valued at $34,000 and a personal estate of $4,000.

Combined History of Shelby and Moultrie Counties, Illinois (Philadelphia, PA: Brink & McDonough, 1881), 249, 298; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 31 October 1835, 2:4; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Christian County, 145:115; Moultrie County, 154:10, 139; Shelby County, 147:47, 64, 71, 154:10, 245, 791:200, 201, 237, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Shelby County, IL, 106; Gravestone, Glenwood Cemetery, Shelbyville, IL.