At home, McMurtry was known as a bright man, despite only modest formal education, who was an avid reader and good neighbor. William was a Freemason and treasurer of the local Grand Lodge. He and his wife Ruth had five children. William McMurtry died in Henderson, Illinois; a town founded near his farm home after he and his family had settled there. References History of Knox county, Illinois (1878) Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois (1886) History of Knox County, Illinois: its cities, towns and people (1912) External links 1801 births 1875 deaths 19th-century American politicians Lieutenant Governors of Illinois Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Democratic Party Illinois state senators American people of the Black Hawk War People of Illinois in the American Civil War People from Mercer County, Kentucky People from Knox County, Illinois Union Army colonels