William Boyles was a

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

miner and legislator from Monroe.

Background

Boyles was originally from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. He was one of the first settlers of what would become Cadiz, Wisconsin, arriving there around 1834 with other ex-miners, from the lead mining regions to the west.

In the Assembly

In October 1836, he was elected to serve in the

1st Wisconsin Territorial Assembly The First Legislative Assembly of the Wisconsin Territory convened from , to , and from , to , in regular session. The Assembly also convened in special session from , to . The first session was held at Belmont, Iowa County (in present-day Lafa ...

as one of seven members of the House of Representatives (the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

) from Iowa County. He would attend the three sessions, held between October 25, 1836 and June 25, 1838. When in December 1837, a new

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

was to be split off from the over-large Iowa County, Boyle as the Representative of the area was allowed to choose a name. He chose Green County, after the verdant color of the vegetation there. Another member suggested that it be modified to "Greene" after General

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependabl ...

, but Boyles insisted on his original choice.''History of Green County, Wisconsin...'' p. 220]

References

19th-century American politicians People from Monroe, Wisconsin Year of birth missing Year of death missing Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature American miners People from Indiana {{Wisconsin-politician-stub