Bio of Disney, William J. (b.1842) Wabasha Co., MN
=========================================================================
USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information
on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities,
as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is
obtained from the contributor of the file.
These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or
presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to
use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written
consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter,
and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent.

If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives 
Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm
Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find 
the submitter information or other files for this county.
FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives

Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Barbara Timm and Carol Judge
=========================================================================
This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1884.
Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab1.htm
There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some 
of the bios on her pages.

Disney, William J., farmer, son of John and Mary Disney, was born in
Oneida county, New York, in 1842. At the age of fifteen he came with his
parents to this county, where he has resided since that time. He enlisted
in 1864, in Co. E., 11th Minn., and served until the close of the war.
Although he was never in an engagement, yet he did faithful service for
the government in guarding supply trains to our armies in the south. Mr.
Disney was married to Miss Ward in 1869. He is a member of the Carnelian
Lodge of Masons, of Lake City. Politically he is a republican.
=========================================================================
This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1920.
Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab3.htm
There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some 
of the bios on her pages.

Disney, William J. (page 494), a surviving pioneer of Wabasha county,
residing in the village of Zumbro Falls, was born in Utica, N. Y., July
22, 1842, son of John C. And Louis (Clark) Disney. At the age of 15 he
accompanied his parents to Wabasha County, Minn., settling with them on a
farm in Gillford Township, it being one of the first farms taken up there.
There he spent 44 years of his life, carrying on the place after his
father's retirement, and remaining on it until 1891, when he came to
Zumbro Falls. Here he became interested in various business enterprises,
buying stock, conducting a lumber yard, and also opening and carrying on a
hardware store, in association with his three sons and his daughter. The
business was carried on under the firm name of W. J. Disney & Sons until
April, 1919, when it was sold out, and Mr. Disney retired from active
business. He was one of the organizers of the Zumbro Falls State Bank, of
which he is still a stockholder and director. In 1897 Mr. Disney was
appointed postmaster of Zumbro Falls, and held the office subsequently for
17 years to the satisfaction of his fellow townspeople. He is a member of
Ford Post 156, G. A. R. of Mazeppa, and stands high in Masonry being a
Shriner and member of Lake City Commandery No. 6 of which his three sons
also belong. His successful career was due to qualities of industry and
self-reliance, cultivated from his earliest years, as when only eight
years old he worked on a Virginia plantation for 15 cents a day, and
subsequently accompanying his parents in their wanderings from one
locality to another, in New York State and elsewhere, relieved them of
much of the burden of his support. These early industrial habits precluded
the opportunity of his acquiring a regular education, but in his scanty
hours of leisure, as he grew older, he supplied to a large extent this
deficiency by private study, mastering the ordinary branches of knowledge.
The first meeting of the town board of Gillford was held at his house on
the farm he purchased in 1868, adjoining that of his parents which he
carried on while he also was managing the home farm, and his aid and
influence have always been on the side of good government and the
progressive development of the community in which he resided. He stands
now among the few survivors of the "old guard" of pioneers who opened up
and brought civilization to this region. Not only that, in his younger
days he shouldered a musket and went forth to defend the Union form the
attack of those who wished to destroy it, enlisting in 1864, in Company E,
Eleventh Minnesota Infantry. His regiment was assigned to the Third
Division, Fourth Brigade, of the Twentieth Army Corps, under the command
of General Thomas, and under that able and stalwart leader he took part in
the bloody battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., besides a number of
skirmishes, serving until the close of the war. He was one of the veterans
who marched through cheering thousands in the streets of Washington in the
grand review at the close of the great struggle, when President Lincoln
and his cabinet, with most of the great northern generals present ~ an
inspiring occasion never to be forgotten by those who witnessed or took
part in it. The ranks of the veterans are now thinned, but their memory
will forever survive and their deeds be written on their country's roll of
honor. It was some five years after the close of the war, on March 9,
1870, when Mr. Disney chose a bride in the person of Sarah M. Ward,
daughter of Josiah and Roxana (Carrier) Ward, who were natives of
Connecticut. The early ancestors of the Ward family in this country came
from England and were among the first settlers in New England, being
numbered among the Pilgrims who fled to America to escape religious
persecution. An ancestor of Mrs. Disney, Joshua Ward, served in the
Revolutionary War, entering the American service in 1776; and several
others of the name were prominent in that struggle which won for this
country its independence. Mr. and Mrs. William J. Disney had four
children: Nellie, who is now keeping house for her father and mother;
Burton W., cashier of the Zumbro Falls Farmers and Merchants State Bank;
Erwin C., and Leonard W. Amidst a large gathering of friends and
neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Disney celebrated their golden wedding on March 9,
1920.