Through his years William irregurlary attended school, however he studied on his own and aquired a liberal education. On December 18,1834 he married Serena Draper, a native of Smith County,Tennessee who`d moved to Jackson county, along with her two sisters. After his marriage William remained on the original Bradley homestead building a house near his fathers. Here they raised three children: Eliza Jane,Elizabeth Ann, and Leander Melville.
In April 1839 William was one of the 32 men who pooled their funds to purchase 80 acres of land to be used in establishing Shiloh School and Meeting House to serve both Jackson and Randolph Counties. In December he, along with his brothers James,Benjamin and Richard and six other men, was elected Trustee for the incorporation of Shiloh College which was approved on January 8th,1840 by the Illinois House and Senate.
He remained a trustee for several years and was a member of the committee which drafted the resolutions which governed the board of the college. This was only a start to his involvement in the affairs of the county.
He was appointed postmaster of the town of Bradley from its formation in 1846 until 1853. He served as Associate County Judge from 1849 to 1853 and county Judge from 1853 to 1857. In 1858 he unsuccessfully ran for the State Legislature. In October 1852 he was ordained a freewill Baptist Minister by Rev. Henry S. Gordon. He served as a pastor at Looney Springs Baptist Church near Campbell Hill and at Sato Baptist Church. In 1860 he and Reverend Gordon organized the Ava Free Baptist Church, where William served as pastor until 1864. In 1869, William and Serena moved from their farm to the growing city of Murphysboro where they lived the rest of their lives. From 1869 to 1873 William once more served as County Judge and through his remaining years stayed active in the church.
Serena died January 24,1882 and later that year William married Sarah L.Tinsley, the widow of Reuben Rees. On August 10,1887 William died and was buried next to Serena in Holliday Cemetery Northeast of Murphysboro.
If you would like more information,you may contact a direct descendent to William and he will gladly share his extensive records of his descendents.
E-mail jsruss@mindsprings.com
