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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 169
W. J. FUNSTON, D.D.S., of Platteville, Grant county, and an ex-soldier of the war of the Rebellion, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, in 1840, and is a son of J. D. and Isabel (McKINLEY) FUNSTON.
While our subject was still an infant his parents removed to Jefferson county, Ohio, where the mother died in 1850, when the father came to Wisconsin and located in Richland county. There he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1893. They were the parents of five children, of whom the Doctor was the eldest, and of whom two, besides him, are still living, viz.: Mary, wife of A. J. CAMPBELL, a farmer at Milton Junction, Wis.; and Theodore F., of Galesville, this State. The latter served three years in the Civil war, and was honorably discharged for physical disability. He is one of the most respected citizens of Galesville, and has a wife and one child.
Dr. FUNSTON received his preliminary education in the public schools, and began the study of dentistry when a young man with Dr. John McKINLEY, of Uhrichsville, Ohio. He was still a student when, in response to the call to arms, he enlisted in August, 1862, in Company E, 52d O.V.I., Col. Daniel McCook, and took part, among other engagements, in the battles of Perryville, Ky., Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, Tenn. He was then detailed as adjutant's clerk, and filled that position until the cessation of hostilities. He was with Gen. Sherman in his Atlanta campaign, the historical march to the sea, at the last battle of the war, Bentonville, N. C. The Doctor is alluded to by his companions in arms as a brave and faithful soldier, who never shirked or neglected his duty under any circumstances.
After the war had ceased and he had been honorably discharged, the Doctor returned to his Ohio home for a short time, then going West began the practice of dentistry in Plattsburg, Mo. After remaining there a short time he sold out and came to Wisconsin, in the spring of 1866, to visit his father, whom he had not seen for twelve years. Stopping a while in Richland county, in the fall of 1866 he opened a dental office in Platteville, Grant county, and did a thriving business until 1873, when he went to California, visiting the cities of Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Salinas City, and the Spanish Mission of Soledad. Returning to Platteville in 1874, he has since done the leading business in his line there.
In 1882 Dr. FUNSTON married Mrs. F. E. THOMAS, who was born at Alton, Ill., and came to Wisconsin with her parents. They have reared three children: Genevieve and Morna, students of the State Normal, of Platteville; and Nanon, a grand-daughter, an invalid. Religiously the Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they are both earnest and active workers, the Doctor being one of the directors and trustees. Politically he has always voted with the Republican party, but has never aspired to public office. Fraternally he is a charter member of W. T. Sherman Post, No. 66, G.A.R., in which he has held the offices of adjutant and past commander; of I.O.O.F. Lodge No. 6, of Platteville, of which he has been noble grand, and is also secretary of his lodge; and of Lodge No. 125, K. of P., of Platteville. He has been an officer in the fire department of his town for twenty years. Mrs. FUNSTON is a member of the Rebekahs, auxiliary to the I.O.O.F. The Doctor and his estimable wife are among the most respected residents of Platteville, where his professional reputation stands on a par with that of any dentist in the county.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck