William Rueben Rowley

William R. Rowley
  • Born February 8, 1824, Lawrence County, New York; came to Jo Daviess County in 1843 to teach
  • Married Elizabeth Miller in 1847; they had four children. Held succession of county governmental positions
  • Commissioned 1st Lieutenant, Company D, 45th Illinois Infantry, Nov. 1861; promoted Captain and Aide-de-camp on Grant’s staff Feb. 1862
  • Detailed as Provost Marshal General of Departments of Tennessee and Cumberland, 1863
  • Promoted Lieutenant Colonel and Military Secretary to General Grant, March 1864; resigned due to ill health, August 1864
  • Brevetted to ranks of Colonel and Brigadier General
  • Resumed post of Jo Daviess County Circuit Clerk until 1876; elected County Judge in 1877, a position he held until his death in 1886
  • Buried in Galena’s Greenwood Cemetery