Prof. William Forbes Stearns, b., Nov. 11, 1817, son of Rufus and Anna (Stewart) Stearns, of Bennington, Vt.; md. (1) 1844, Emeline Rutherford, of Holly Springs, who died early; md. (2) Aug. 26, 1858, Mary Jane Ferris of Peru, N.Y., who survives him. "After a bright and active childhood, signs of delicate health caused him to be sent to a milder climate, where he completely recovered, and studious habits early won for him a brilliant position at the bar of his adopted state, Mississippi. In 1854, he relinquished a lucrative law-practice to become the head of the Law School of the University of Mississippi, which grew and prospered under his hands until the Univ. was suspended on account of the Civil War. After the war, he returned to the bar in Chicago, and was beginning a prosperous career there, when he was garroted, robbed, and left insensible in the street. From this, his health failed until his untimely death, Sept. 8, 1867, at Albert Lea, Minn., where he had gone on business. In 1858, the degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by Yale College." He had two daughters.
- Mary Adeline Stearns, b. Oct. 14, 1860, at Oxford, Miss.; md., Oct. 18, 1888, at Jacksonville, Ill., Dr. Horace B. Wing, of Los Angeles, Cal.
- Margaret Wing, b., Nov. 2, 1889, at Los Angeles, Cal.
- Elbert Wing, b., June 18, 1896.
-Sarah Emily Stearns, b., April 10, 1863, at Peru, N.Y.; d., Oct. 11, 1865, at same place.
From " Genealogy and memoirs of Charles and Nathaniel Stearns and their Descendents" - Avis Stearns Van Wagenen - 1901
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Doctor Wing, who died in 1908, married Miss Adeline Stearns, whose father, Judge William Forbes Stearns, was a Southern planter and lawyer, possessed of broad culture and scholarship, and at one time was at the head of the law department of the College at Oxford, Mississippi, that is now the University of Mississippi. The mother of Mrs. Wing was a pioneer in the Ruskin Art Club America, and was made vice-president emeritus. She studied abroad and painted a great deal, and was also deeply versed in literature.
(California and Californians - 1926)