William J. Vincent (1830-1891)

William J. Vincent was from Saint Croix Falls (Polk County), and enlisted on May 28, 1861. He was commissioned 1st lieutenant of Company F, 1st Wisconsin Infantry (3 Years) on June 29, 1861.  He resigned on February 3, 1862.  Vincent died in November of 1891.

Obituary from The Polk County Press, November 21, 1891:

WILLIAM J. VINCENT.—Mr. Vincent is of Irish descent.   He was born June 10, 1830, and came West when a youth.  In 1846, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in Company H, Mounted Rifles, and served through the Mexican War.  In 1848 he came to St. Croix Falls, where he followed lumbering and clerking.  He was married to Myra Worth in 1855.  In 1861, he enlisted in Company F, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, of which company he was appointed second lieutenant.  He resigned in 1862.  He has held the office of county commissioner eleven years, that of county cleark seven years, that of state timber agent for years.  In 1879 he served as representative in the Wisconsin assembly.  In 1880 he commenced selling goods with his son-in-law, under the firm name of Vincent & Stevenson.  He erected the first brick store building in St. Croix Falls in 1884.

Biographical sketch from Fifty Years in the Northwest: With an Introduction and Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents, and Notes, by W. H. C. Folsom; edited by E. E. Edwards ([St. Paul]: Pioneer Press Co., 1888): 112. (UWRF Archives F 606 .F65 1888)

William J. Vincent is a native of Portland, Maine, born June 10th, 1830.  at the age of fifteen he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, remaining a short time; thence to Galena, Illinois, where he engaged as clerk.  In 1846 he enlisted in the regular army, Company H, Mounted Rifles, in the war with Mexico, and served about two years.  During the fall of 1848, he came to Stillwater, Minnesota, thence to St. Croix Falls, and has since made this place his home.  He enlisted in Company F, First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, as first lieutenant, in 1861, and served as such until he resigned in 1862.  Mr. Vincent has held the office of chairman of county commissioners eleven years, county clerk seven years and represented the north-western district of Wisconsin, in the legislature of 1879.  he was married in 1855 to Mrya. A Worth.  Nine children have been born, five of whom are living.

Biographical sketch from History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley: Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, by Rev. Edward D. Neill, and Outlines of the History of Minnesota by J. Fletcher Williams (Minneapolis: North Star Publishing Co., 1881): 299.  (UWRF Archives F 612.W3 H6 1881).  This sketch was obviously taken from the 1879 Wisconsin Blue Book (see next entry).

William J. VINCENT (Rep.), of St. Croix Falls, Polk county, was born in Portland, Maine, June 10, 1830; received a common school education (one term academic); is by occupation a Farmer; removed to La Fayette county in 1845, and to St. Croix Falls in 1848; was chairman of county board several terms; county clerk of Polk county from 1872 to 1878; deputy provost marshal for several years, and served as First Lieutenant of Company F, 1st Reg. Wis. Vol., from July, 1861, to Feb., 1862; elected member of assembly for 1879, receiving 1,826 votes against 399 for John Leonard (Dem.), of Barron county.

Biographical sketch from The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin for 1879 (Madison, Wis. : David Atwood, State Printer, 1879): 487.  (UWRF Archives JK 6074 .A36)

ASSEMBLY,

Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas and Polk Counties.
Population 14,437.

WILLIAM J. VINCENT (Rep.), of St. Croix Falls, Polk county, was born in Portland, Maine, June 10, 1830; received a common school education (one term academic); is by occupation a Farmer; removed to La Fayette county in 1843, and to St. Croix Falls in 1848; was chairman of county board several terms; county clerk of Polk county from 1872 to 1878; deputy provost marshal for several years, and served as First Lieutenant of Company F, 1st Reg. Wis. Vol., from July, 1861, to Feb., 1862; elected member of assembly for 1879, receiving 1,826 votes against 399 for John Leonard (Dem.), of Barron county.

We learn from the chart on page 514 that he was 49 years old when he entered the Legislature and he had been in Wisconsin for 34 years.