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William Lake
Clinton County
Born July 30, 1826, in Trelleck, Monmouthshire, County, England, one of a family of six children. He was reared and educated in his native land, and was twenty-two years of age when he crossed the ocean and took up his residence in Elgin, Illinois, where he was first engaged in farming, and then accepted the position of fireman on the Fox River Railroad. On the 9th of March, 1857, Mr. Lake came to Clinton, Iowa, as engineer on the construction train, building the Chicago, Iowa & Nebraska Railroad, now the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. A year and a half later he went south to Memphis, Tennessee, where, under General Joseph E. Johnson, he assisted in surveying for fortifications preparatory for the Civil War, and remained there about a year. He then returned to Clinton, and with Darwin Parsons built a flouring mill near the site of the present Farmer’s Mill. A year later he sold his interest in the enterprise and entered the railroad shops as a mechanic, being thus employed for five years. During the following year he was employed as engineer on the steam ferry boats carrying cars across the river. Mr. Lake next went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and entered the employ of the government as an engineer and mechanic. At the close of the war Mr. Lake returned to Clinton and again entered the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad shops as a mechanic, remaining there until 1871, when he took up the study of law under E. C. Foster and was admitted to the bar the following year. For several years he was successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, but in later years devoted his attention principally to dealing in grain and stock as a speculator. Mr. Lake was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Meredith, also a native of Monmouthshire, England, and a daughter of James and Paulina Meredith. He is a member of the Baptist church and a thirty-second-degree Mason, belonging to the entire Masonic bodies, including the blue lodge chapter, commandery, Mystic Shrine and consistory. The Republican party has always found in him a stanch supporter of its principles, and his fellow citizens, recognizing his worth and ability, have called upon him to fill several political positions of honor and trust. While engaged in the practice of law he has served as justice of the peace, and he has also been a member of the city council and county supervisor. In 1880 he was elected to the legislature and most ably represented his district in that body, serving as a member of several important committees.
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