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biography
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Ringle, William, For fifty-two years, William Ringle has lived in Henry County and,
retiring from agricultural life, took up his abode in Cambridge where he
is now the senior member of the firm of William Ringle & Company, grain
buyers and owners of an elevator. He is also the vice president of the
First National Bank, and is widely recognized as a man of affairs who
wields a wife influence. His birth occurred in Allegheny County,
Pennsylvania, March 6, 1847, his parents being Joseph and Mary
(Whitesell) Ringle who were also natives of the Keystone state. The
paternal grandfather was Mathias Ringle and he too was born in
Pennsylvania when it was still numbered among the colonial possessions
of Great Britain. When the yoke of British oppression became
intolerable and the colonists made the attempt to sever all allegiance
with the crown, he was in hearty sympathy with the movement and served
for eight years in the army, which won American Independence. He was
with Washington during the memorable winter at Valley Forge where the
American troops underwent untold hardships and he participated in many
of the long campaigns and hotly contested battles of the war. He was of
German descent and died in Pennsylvania when well advanced in years.
The maternal grandfather of our subject passed away in the Keystone
state at the advanced age of ninety-two years after devoting his active
business life to farming.
Joseph Ringle, the father of William Ringle, was a farmer and dairyman
and came to Illinois in 1857, settling in Munson Township, Henry County,
where he purchased eighty acres of land to which he after ward added one
hundred and sixty acres. Upon this he reared his family and greatly
improved the property, making it a valuable farm. He died at the home
of his son, William, in Osco Township, his wife surviving him for
several years. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church. Their
family numbered seven children who yet survive: James; Katharine, the
wife of Harrison Moore; John [also bio in this book];
Louisa, the wife of Andrew J. Combs; William; Mary,
the wife of John Sherrard and David W. Of this family
John Ringle served for three years as a soldier in the Civil War with
the Ninth Illinois Cavalry.
William Ringle was a lad of only ten years when he accompanied his
parents to this county and upon his fathers farm his youthful days were
passed in the free and untrammeled life of the fields. He attended the
district schools and the Orion Prairie Home Academy, while his business
training was received under the direction of his father who assigned to
him such farm duties as his age and strength permitted. He resolved to
make his life work the occupation to which he had been reared and with
one horse he started out for himself on a tract of rented land. For
several years he continued to cultivate farms which he leased and
eventually was enabled to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of land
in Osco Township. He still owns that property and has made other
investments until his possessions in this county aggregate three hundred
and twenty acres, while in Grant County, Minnesota, he owns six hundred
and forty acres. He continued to reside on his farm in Osco Township
until the spring of 1909, when he removed to Cambridge. He is now the
senior partner of the firm of William Ringle & company, owners of a
large elevator and conducting an extensive business in grain. He also
has voice in the management of the First National Bank at Cambridge,
being its vice president.
On the 23d of October 1873, Mr. Ringle was married to Miss Ellen E.
Welton, whose birth occurred near Henry, Illinois. Her parents, Lester
C. and Ora (Welton) Welton were natives of Connecticut and, coming to
Henry County at an early day, settled near Osco. Her father was one of
the foremost men of the township in pioneer times and took an important
part in shaping its policy and promoting its growth. Both he and his
wife died in Hutchinson, Kansas, and were laid to rest in the cemetery
there. Their family numbered two sons and two daughters: James,
Merritt, Helen and Margaret.
In his political views, William Ringle is a republican and for several
terms served as supervisor and in other township offices. No trust
reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree. Mrs.
Ringle is a member of the Episcopal Church while Mr. Ringle is a member
of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Ringle is well known as a man of
integrity, of business ability, of keen insight and of public spirit so
that his words carry weight in matters of vital importance to the
community and he is widely recognized as a most influential and
progressive citizen.
History of Henry County, Illinois, by Henry L. Kiner, Volume II,
Chicago: The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1910.
Contributed by Alice Gless.
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