William H. Stovall was born on February 20, 1834, in Columbia, Tennessee, to William and Martha Stovall. He grew up and attended school in Columbia, and he studied law at Cumberland University. After graduation, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and he established a legal practice.

 

In June 1861, he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company G of the 154^th Tennessee Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones River, and the Battle of Chickamauga. He eventually received a promotion to 1^st lieutenant, and he also served as an adjutant. His health deteriorated in the spring of 1863, and a surgeon diagnosed him with “Granular Conjunctivitis.” He resigned on October 20, 1863, explaining that “protracted illness [had] unfitted me for service for the last six months and may probably continue for months to come.”

 

He returned to Memphis after leaving the army. According to an early biographer, however, “an injury to his eyes forbade his resuming the practice of law.” He married Louise Irene Fowler on May 10, 1866, and their son John was born around 1872. His father-in-law was a wealthy landowner in Coahoma County, Mississippi, and Stovall moved there soon afterward to “engage in planting.” He reportedly became “a leading figure…in the material and economic progress of the Upper Mississippi Delta.”

 

His wife died around 1875, and he married Roberta Lewis Franks on July 7, 1891. Their son William was born around 1895. He died in Chicago, Illinois, on April 3, 1916.

 

Image: William H. Stovall (The Mid-South and its Builders)

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