Biography - WILLIAM W. REEVES
William W. Reeves, of Tuscola, one of the youngest members in active
practice at the Douglas county bar, was born on a farm near Villa Grove,
Camargo township, December 25, 1870, and is a son of George R. Reeves. The
latter, who was a native of Delaware county, Indiana, was born in 1836, and
his death occurred in 1881. He removed to Douglas county in 1865, and was
engaged in farming up to the time of his decease. W. W. Reeves' mother was
before her marriage Miss Nancy E. Wilson. She was born near Urbana, Ohio,
and was a daughter of John O. Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, who
emigrated in 1861 to Illinois, first locating near Paris, and later came to
this county, where he died at the age of seventy-nine years. Elijah Reeves
(grandfather) was born near Culpeper Court House, Virginia, and subsequently
emigrated to Kentucky. At one time he was the owner of quite a number of
slaves, but later became convinced that slavery was wrong and freed them all
in the year 1836 and moved to Indiana, a free state.
William W. Reeves remained on the farm until he had arrived at the age of
seventeen years, when he entered Wesleyan College. He continued his studies
in this institution until he had finished the sophomore year. In 1896 he
commenced reading law in the office of John H. Chadwick, and was graduated
from the Bloomington (Illinois) Law School in the class of '98. He was
immediately admitted to the bar and opened an office in Tuscola. He is a
member of the Masonic order and is a Knight of Pythias. In politics he is a
Democrat and takes an active interest in the success of his party.
Extracted 03 Apr 2020 by Norma Hass from the Historical and Biographical Record of Douglas County, Illinois, published in 1900, pages 272-273.
