L. B. WILLIAMS was born February 14, 1844, in Pennsylvania, and was the son of John and Mary (Caine) Williams, natives also of the Keystone State; father died in 1854. In August, 1861, at the opening of the war, L. B. Enlisted in the Forty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, and served three years and four months; was discharged in August, 1864; he was in the battle of Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Virginia, and in the seven days' fight around Richmond and Malvern Hill, where he received a wound in his right leg, for which he received his discharge; he returned to Pennsylvania, and from there went to Washington, District of Columbia, where he was engaged as wagon-master until the close of the war; in the fall of 1865, he came to Springfield with five hundred government mules, which were sold at auction; then returned to Pennsylvania, and in December of the same year, came back and worked as a farm hand for three years, after which he carried on farming for himself two years. September 28, 1870, he married Mary Louisa, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Q. (Willis) Insley, who was born in this county August 4, 1850; her father was born October 13, 1796, in New York, and died January 24, 1868; her mother was born August 16, 1812, in Kentucky, and came to this county in 1829; was married to Mr. Insley February 8, 1846, and now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Williams, on the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have two children, namely: Nettie A. and Little Dot.