William’s Prairie School, district 10, stands in section 11 of Lake Creek Township. Among its early teachers was a young woman born and brought up in the community. No teacher was ever more loved and respected than Miss Ella Davis who spent her life in that retired part of the world and sent her influence abroad.
Dr. John M. Gambill was one of her students.
Another was Thomas B. F. Smith of Carbondale, whose parents brought him from Kentucky to grow up on the Hunt farm southwest of the school. After his country schooling he went to Carbondale to study at the Normal and became a permanent resident. Mr. Smith became an attorney, interested himself in government, and was a member of the state equalization board at the time Governor Frank O. Lowden discontinued its existence by reorganizing the state offices. Though he was above the age of the draft, Mr. Smith volunteered for service in the World war. He saw active service in France and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery at the Somme. His final rank was colonel and he retired to the officers’ reserve corps.
(Extracted from Pioneer Folks and Places, Barbara Barr Hubbs, 1939 which is on sale at the Williamson County Museum)