WI BIO - Richland Co - ROSS, William D. S. First Biography of William D. S. ROSS History of Crawford & Richland Counties, Wisconsin. Springfield: Union, 1884, Part 2, p 1201 W. D. S. [William D. S.] ROSS was born 19 May 1828 in Fleming County, Kentucky, son of Alexander and Nancy (ARNOLD) ROSS, both of whom died in Marion County, Indiana, to which place the ROSS family had removed in 1844. [Pioneers of Marion County, Indiana, are defined as persons living there after on or after 31 December 1821 (the date the county was created) up to the end of 1830.] William D. S. ROSS made a visit to this county [Richland County, Wisconsin] in 1854, and selected his present farm, which was then owned by a man in Indiana. Mr. ROSS then returned to Marion County, Indiana, and after some correspondence succeeded in purchasing the land, which was the southwest quarter of Section 28 [Richland Township, Richland County, Wisconsin]. In the spring of 1857 he [William D. S. ROSS] removed his family to Wisconsin and commenced improving his property. He has since been engaged in general farming. He now owns 200 acres, a good frame house, and excellent barns. He also owns a half interest in the Park Hotel [built in 1873], at Richland Center [in Richland Township, Richland County, Wisconsin.]. On 25 April 1850 the subject of this sketch [William D. S. ROSS] was married to [Miss?] Rachel JONES; she [Rachel ROSS] died 04 January 1877. They had reared [William D. S. and Rachel ROSS were the parents of] eight children: (1) Samuel T.; (2) Robert A.; (3) James A.; (4) Alilia Jane; (5) Elmer E., deceased; (6) Virgil M.; (7) Ulysses Grant [died in Richland County, Wisconsin, in February 1943?]; and (8) Nora Ann. On 28 August 1878 Mr. [William D. S.] ROSS was married to Mrs. Indiana WILSON, nee McCLELLAND, and by this union [of William D. S. and Indiana ROSS] one son has been born, John M. Mr. [William D. S.] ROSS is a Republican in politics, and he has several times been a member of the [Richland] town board. [William D. S. ROSS died in Richland County, Wisconsin, in January 1907?] Second biography of William D. S. ROSS History of Richland County, Wisconsin. Miner, J. H., ed. Chicago: Western Historical, 1906, pp 621-623 William D. S. ROSS, one of the old and highly respected citizens of Richland County, Wisconsin, was born 19 May 1828 in Fleming County, Kentucky, son of Alexander and Nancy (ARNOLD) ROSS. The father [Alexander ROSS] was born 28 February 1793 in Virginia, and the mother [then Nancy ARNOLD] was born 13 September 1792 in North Carolina. The ROSS family is of old Virginia stock, while the ARNOLD family have for generations been residents of North Carolina. Alexander ROSS removed to Kentucky in early manhood, and removed to Marion County, Indiana, locating there 22 October 1844, where he spent the remainder of his life. Alexander ROSS died in 1871, his wife [Nancy (ARNOLD) ROSS] having passed away in 1866. He [Alexander ROSS] was a Democrat up to the time of the Civil War [which began in April 1861], but ever afterward affiliated with the Republican party, casting his first Republican vote for Abraham Lincoln [elected in 1860; re-elected 1864.] The maternal grandfather of William D. S. ROSS, Charles ARNOLD, was born in North Carolina, served in the Revolutionary War, and later in life removed to Kentucky, where he spent the remainder of his days, living to the advanced age of ninety-three years. His wife [Mrs. Charles ARNOLD] also lived to an advanced age and died about the same time as her husband, in the late 1830's. The ARNOLDs are a long-lived people, and several members of the family still reside at Mt. Carmel [Fleming County], Kentucky. Ten children were born to Alexander ROSS and wife [to Alexander and Nancy (ARNOLD) ROSS], as follows: (1) Elizabeth, born 23 February 1818, married William MARK [MARKLEY?], and she and her husband [William and Elizabeth] both died in Richland County [Wisconsin]; (2) Rebecca, born 05 September 1819, married James FERRIS, and both [James and Rebecca (ROSS) FERRIS] died in Kentucky, where they spent their lives; (3) John M., born in 1821, died in Hendricks County, Indiana; (4) Mary, born 22 February 1823, married Andrew CALDWELL, and after his death was wedded to Elijah COOPER, she and her second husband [Elijah and Mary COOPER] both dying in Indianapolis [Marion County, Indiana]; (5) Catherine, born 10 December 1824, married Josiah COUGHREN and [Catherine COUGHREN] died in Marion County, Indiana; (6) Lewis H., born 16 October 1826, died in infancy; (7) William D. S., the subject of this biography [as given above, born 19 May 1828 in Fleming County, Kentucky]; (8) James A., born 20 September 1830, who came to Richland County about the same time as did the subject, and he [James A ROSS] spent the remainder of his life in Richland County, dying a number of years ago; (9) Samuel, born 30 November 1832, died in Marion County, Indiana; and (10) Priscilla, born 09 August 1834, married William MILLER and [Priscilla (ROSS) MILLER] died in Richland County, her husband still [text published 1906] living near Richland Center [in Richland Township, Richland County, Wisconsin]. William D. S. ROSS was reared in the place of his birth [Fleming County, Kentucky] until he had reached the age of sixteen years, and then came to Indiana with his parents, locating in Marion County, Indiana on 22 October 1844. He remained with his parents until he had reached the age of twenty-one, working in the woods, clearing land, in the process of which walnut trees were burned that would now be worth $100 each. In 1854 he made a visit to Richland County and selected land which was at that time owned by a man in Indiana. Mr. Ross soon returned to Marion County, Indiana, and after some correspondence succeeded in purchasing the land, the southwest quarter of Section 28, in Richland Township [in Richland County, Wisconsin]. In the spring of 1857 he removed his family to Wisconsin and commenced improving his property. He followed farming until 1888, becoming one of the most successful farmers in Richland County, and in the latter year [1888] removed to Rocky Branch [in Richland Township, Richland County]. He is a Republican in politics and has been a member of the [Richland] town board several terms. On 25 April 1850 the subject of this review [William D. S. ROSS] was married in Indiana to [his first wife] Miss Rachel Jones, who was born in Kentucky. To this union [of William D. S. and Rachel (JONES) ROSS] were born eight children: (1) Samuel T., born 26 October 1851 in Marion County, Indiana, who now lives in Richland Center [Wisconsin]; (2) Robert A., born 13 May 1855, who is a farmer and resides near Richland Center; (3) James A., born 12 October 1857 in Richland County [Wisconsin], who now [text published 1906] resides in Pasadena [Los Angeles County], California; (4) Alilia T., born 23 November 1859, who died 30 September 1868; (5) Elmer, born 25 July 1861, who died 18 September 1868; (6) Virgil M., born 27 September 1863, who resides at Gays Mills [Crawford County], Wisconsin; (7) Ulysses G., [Ulysses Grant ROSS] born 26 October 1865, who resides in Richland Center [and died in Richland County, Wisconsin, in February 1943?]; and (8) Nora Ann, born 15 January 1868, who married Michael MURPHY, an attorney at Richland Center. [Rachel (JONES) ROSS, first wife of William D. S. ROSS, died 04 January 1877.] On 28 August 1878 Mr. [William D. S.] ROSS was married to [his second wife] Mrs. Indiana WILSON (nee McCLELLAND), who at the time was the widow of Edward WILSON, who was born in Marion County, Ohio. Born to this second union [born to William D. S. and Indiana ROSS] was one son, John M., born 25 August 1882 at Richland Center [in Richland Township, Richland County, Wisconsin]. This son is now a physician at Richland Center, Wisconsin, having attended school at Milwaukee, medical college in Chicago, and graduated at St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons, at age twenty-two. [John M. ROSS is John Markely ROSS who died in May 1932 in Richland County, Wisconsin?] By her previous marriage Mrs. [William D. S.] ROSS [who was then Mrs. Edward WILSON] became the mother of six children: (1) Frank [WILSON], born 03 May 1857 in Marion County, Indiana, who is the present Superintendent of Schools and Editor of the "Ladoga Leader" at Ladoga [Montgomery County], Indiana; (2) Esther Ellen, born 05 February 1859 in Marion County, Indiana, who married A. S. MARKLEY, Superintendent of bridges and buildings on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, at Danville [Vermilion County], Illinois; (3) George B., born 15 June 1861, who died in June 1902; (4) Ida C., born 04 February 1863 in Marion County, Indiana, who married Abel S. MARKLEY, Superintendent of bridges on the Pittsburg & Western Railway, residing at Danville [Vermilion County], Illinois; (5) William A., born in 1865, who died in September 1866; (6) Julian W., born 28 June 1867, who died in 1868. Mrs. [William D. S.] ROSS [Indiana nee McCLELLAND] was born 14 July 1839 in Marion County, Indiana, and is the daughter of William B. and Eleanor (JULIAN) McCLELLAND. William B. McCLELLAN was born in Tennessee, and Eleanor McCLELLAND [nee JULIAN] was born in Henry County, Indiana. Her paternal grandfather [---- JULIAN, the father of Renne JULIAN] was also born in Tennessee, the son of an Irishman. William B. McCLELLAND came to Indiana with his parents when about seventeen years of age, and there settled in the wilderness, spending the remainder of his life in Indiana. William B. McCLELLAND died about 1891 in Marion County, Indiana, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife [Eleanor (JULIAN) McCLELLAND] was a daughter of Renne JULIAN, who was one of the early pioneers of Indiana, and of Italian descent. [The children of Renne JULIAN and his wife, who is not named] were (1) Mrs. Ross [Indiana, born 14 July 1839 in Marion County, Ohio, as stated above], who was the eldest of twelve children born to these parents [born to Mr. and Mrs. Renne JULIAN]; (2) Charlotte, born June 15, 1841, married Albert Hockensmith and died in Indiana.; (3) John F. resides on the old homestead in Marion county, Ind.; (4) Margaret died at the age of seventeen; (5) Charles May resides in Indianapolis, Ind.; (6) James I. died in childhood; (7) William E. resides in Crawfordsville, Ind. [Note that five are not named.] The mother [the first Mrs. Renne JULIAN] died at the age of thirty-nine, and the father [Renne JULIAN] took for his second wife [Miss?] Mary BROADWAY, of Springfield [Sangamon County], Illinois, to which union two children were born: (1) Nellie, who died in childhood; and (2) Juliet, who married Fletcher ROARK and resides in Indianapolis [Marion County, Indiana]. Mr. and Mrs. ROSS [William D. S. and Indiana ROSS] are members of the Christian church, William D. S. ROSS having been a deacon and also an elder for several years. Mrs. Ross [Indiana ROSS] is very active in church work and is a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, having been the local President, Secretary and Treasurer of the same at different times. She is one of the Directors of the library board and has filled that position since the organization of the library association. She is greatly interested in missionary work and is a zealous worker in the Sunday school. Mr. ROSS is now spending the evening of his life in the quiet enjoyment of a comfortable home in the beautiful little city of Richland Center [in Richland County, Wisconsin], and as he looks back over the years of a well-spent life, fifty years of which have been passed in the county of his adoption [Richland County, Wisconsin], he sees nothing in the retrospect but noble deeds and a career of usefulness. [William D. S. ROSS died January 1907? When this biography was published (1906) he would have been seventy-eight years old.] Submitted by Cathy Kubly