R. Meek, a Walnut Grove settler of 1830, at her home on May 24, 1849. Warren and Nancy lived to the age of 82, but we cannot locate dates. The first Palestine Twp. school was built near Warren's cabin in 1844.
WELLS, John – Active in early Panola Methodism, 1857-8.
WELTE, Rosena – Purchased the E 1/2 of Lot 2, Block 20 from Gibson on March 18, 1858.
WEST, John – Came to Woodford County from Ohio in 1857. He soon settled in the NE part of Section 23, land which surrounded the school known as the Punke School.
WETHERINGTON, C. – Active in early Methodist Church circles, 1857.
WHITAKER, Miss Deborah and Miss Alice – Charter members of the first El Paso Baptist Church organized January 21, 1858.
WHORRELL, John – Resided in El Paso Twp. in 1856.
WHORRELL, Joseph – Began farming Section 7 west of El Paso, possibly as early as 1852.
WHORRELL, William and Sarah – Patented the SW 1/4 of Section 7 on September 25, 1852.
WILKERSON, Joseph and Nancy – Lived in Greene Twp. Panther Creek settlement in 1832 (Radford). He patented part of the SW 1/4 of Section 19 there on November 30, 1835, and sold it to B. J. Radford Sr., February 11, 1837.
WILLIAMS, Lewis and Elizabeth – Lewis was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania on May 30, 1821, came to Woodford County in 1849, and to a Greene Twp. farm in 1858. His home was on the SE comer of Section 11, surrounding which he owned 360 acres. He purchased the NW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 on January 28, 1856.
WILLIAMS, Phillip – Came to Woodford County in 1856 from Virginia and settled on Section 11 of Kansas Twp.
WILLIAMSON, Mathias and Amy (1815-1898) – Came from Butler County, Ohio in 1857 and settled in the woods about a mile north of the Secor site. By a prior marriage, he was the father of Peter (1830) and John (1832). By the second marriage he was the parent of William (father of George Williamson, long an El Paso resident), James Alvin and Louis W. Mathias was born in Ohio on August 22, 1803 and died December 7, 1877 and is buried in Evergreen. He had lived for many years in the Gabetown neighborhood.
WILLIS, Francis M. and "Passey" Hespatia Davidson – Francis came to Woodford County at a spot near the site of Cruger in 1829, and soon moved to the Bowling Green settlement, and is credited with helping to stake out that village in 1831, although the recording was made in 1836. He purchased the Moore gristmill and dam on Panther Creek a mile to the northwest in 1831. He owned land in Section 6 of Kansas Twp. which he sold on April 4, 1843 to John Anderson, and once owned 160 acres in El Paso Twp., where he served as tax collector for years. He died June 9, 1875 and his wife on March 22, 1892. They were members of the earliest Christian Church in Walnut Grove. (See Chapter 3, "Bowling Green.")
WILLIS, William R. and Amanda J. – William was from Hopkins County, Kentucky, and was probably born there in 1813. He may have been a brother of Francis M. Willis, as he too settled first near the site of Cruger, and (Radford says) came to the Walnut Grove area about 1831. We know he was working for the Illinois Central during the days of its construction through El Paso. On April 2, 1853 he purchased the W 1/2 of the SW 1/4 in Section 29, El Paso Twp. As soon as John Bennett completed the "Union House," William Willis
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