"William Lisle is a representative of one of the pioneer families ofFr anklin County, and first opened his eyes to the light of day in thelit tle log cabin which stood on the homestead farm in HamiltonTownship, N ov. 28, 1808...."
"When a young man he went on foot to the Mississippi River, thence byb oat to new Orleans, and from there returned north to Nauvoo, HancockCo unty, Illinois. Purchasing a horse at that place he completed thehome ward journey on horseback. This extended trip was made with aview to s ecuring another location but he returned content to make theBuckey Sta te his permanent home."
"On his return home he married Miss Sarah McWilliams, and settled onre nted land ten miles west of Columbus, meantime also tilling hisfather' s farm. After some years spent as a renter, he purchasedproperty, and i s now the owner of four farms. The home placeconsists of over three h undred acres of valuable, well improved land,and is one fo the best es tates in the county. In early life, whileassociated with his brother i n the livestock business, he twicefailed, but since then has been very s uccessful in that department ofagriculture."
"Politically William Lisle is a democrat, and for twenty five yearsser ved as Township Trustee. He is a believer in the Christainreligion, b ut is not a member of any church. He and his devoted wifehave shared e ach other's joys and lightened each other's sorrows foralmost a half c entury, and are now spending their declining days inquiet retirement."
"Few of the residents of Franklin County have been witnesses of thedev elopment of this portion of the state through as long a period asMr. L isle. He is now 92 years of age (actually 82 if death date iscorrect) a nd he can relate many interesting incidents of life on thefrontier, Oh io at that time being considered on the far borders ofcivilization. W hen a small boy his father would often have him takecare of his horses a long the ponds and he would often see deerrunning across the prairies. H e attended the subscription schoolsfrom the age of twelve years, but h is educational privileges weresomewhat meager, as his father was in li mited financial circumstancesand needed his assistance upon the farm. H e began plowing when hishead was not as high as the plow handles. He c ontinued to pursue hisstudies, however, through the winter seasons unt il sixteen years ofage, after which he had to work in order to support t he youngerchildren of the family. He entered the employ of his uncle, R obertLisle, then one of the wealthy men of the County, and for his services our subject received from ten to twenty cents per day. When hew as twenty three years of age he and his brother John rented theElliot f arm west of Alton and there cleared three hunderd sixty acresof land w hich they planted, raising good crops. Their lease was madeout for fi ve years, but after four years they disposed of it to a Mr.Lathrop who t ook possession of the place."
"After surrendering the lease Mr. Lisle worked at anything he couldget t o do. He rented the Graham farm of one hundred sixty acres,which he o perated for two years and on the expiration of that periodfound himsel f the owner of the greater part of the old homestead,having purchased t he interests of the other heirs. One of hisbrothers in law, however, w ould not sell his share of the land, sothat it was appraised and the c ourt gave Mr. Lisle the privilege oftaking possession of it at the app raisers price. He borrowed themoney, made the purchase and continued o n the old homestead for twoyears after which he sold the property (bac k) to his brothers Robertand John Lisle. He then purchased the Henry A dams farm in thewestern part of Prairie Township, and later he purchas ed of GeorgeDugan 125 acres of land. He afterward became the owner of o nehundred acres formerly the property of Mr. Sullivant, and of 18 1/2 acres of the Granner farm. At different times he added other smalltrac ts. John Graham was a surveyor and found many unclaimed tractswhich Mr . Lisle purchased. He also bought twenty-eight acres of theWallace su rvey and a tract from Squire Cole which now forms the Lislehomestead. A t the present time our subject owns three hundred andtwenty five aces, h aving disposed of a portion of his property. Mr.Lisle has ever been a s hrewd, enterprising, and industriousbusniessman and his careful manage ment and keen sagacity and energyhave brought to him creditable succes s."
"The subject of this review has served as trustee of Prairie Twonshipf or twenty consecutive years. No higher testimony could be given tohis f aithful service that the fact that he was retained so long inoffice. H e was instrumental in having a township burying groundestablished, and h as done much for the public welfare. He has longbeen a staunch democr at and was first elected against a usualrepublican majority of fifty. T he same year his brother John wasappointed Clerk."
11/8/1849 William and Sarah sold 44 acres on the National Road toJohn L M cWilliams for $380.
1850 Prairie Twp, Franklin Co, OH. At census time he was a 32 yearol d farmer with property = $3000. He and Sarah had 2 small childrenand a 1 2 year old daughter, possibly from a first marriage. Alsoliving with t hem was brother Alexander at age 20, also a farmer.
1/25/1853 Alton, Franklin Co, OH He and Sarah bought lot 37 in townf rom a Lewis Postle and wife for $130.
3/1/1853 He bought 10 acres on the National Road for $650 from DavidP C ole and his wife.
5/11/1857 He bought another 100 acres from Michael L Sullivant andhis w ife for $1500.
11/5/1857 For $750 he bought 50 acres adjacent to the previous 100acr es plot, also from the Sullivants.
1860 Same place. The census taker recorded his family and propertyha d grown considerably. The property then = $14,000/1675. Livingwith h im and Sarah, besides their own 7 children, were his agedmother, and p ossibly Sarah's relatives, Nancy McWilliams, age 12 butwith real and p ersonal property of her own; John Fulton, age 14; andBluda Gray, age 4 0.
6/19/1866 He and Sarah paid $11,000 to Lewis Postle "in trust forSara h Lisle." In return she received unspecified real estate.
1880 Still there. By census time that year, only Zedoc, 25, a farmera nd George, 20, were still at home with William and Sarah.
