businessman, politician, local historian, author, b. Empire, Fond du Lac County. He attended the Univ. of Wisconsin and the Univ. of Chicago, and in 1895 became associated with a lime and stone company in Fond du Lac. In 1902 he was one of the organizers of the Standard Lime and Stone Co. of Fond du Lac, served as its secretary-treasurer (1902-1920) and president (1920-1940). For a number of years, Titus was also president of the Citizens' Loan and Investment Co. of Fond du Lac. A Republican, he was state senator (1921-1928), was active in the state conservation program, and from 1913 to 1923 was a member of the Univ. of Wisconsin Board of Visitors. An active member of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Titus was its president (1940-1946), and was the author of many articles on state and local history, as well as Wisconsin Writers, published in 1930, and a History of the Fox River Valley (3 vols., 1930). He devoted the later years of his life to his interest in history and writing. Wis. Mag. Hist., 34; F. L. Holmes, et al., eds., Wis. (5 vols., Chicago, 1946); Wis. Blue Book (1927); Fond du Lac Commonwealth-Reporter, Feb. 3, 1951.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the William A. Titus Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

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[Source: Blue book]