William Rector was a pioneer preacher who laid the foundations for many of the earliest Methodist churches in southwest Iowa.

William was born in 1792. He fought in the war of 1812, and married Elizabeth Smith, in Kentucky in 1815. In 1851, William and his family were living in Fremont County, Iowa. At that time, he applied for bounty land. His son, Benjamin Rector, had served and died in the Civil War.

William and Elizabeth are buried at the foot of the Waubonsie hills east of the farm buildings. A number of other graves were in the graveyard including that of Austin Knox after whom the community of Knox was named. Most of the bodies were removed and reinterred in the Grandview Cemetery, however the graves of William and Elizabeth remain in the burial ground which still bears their name and their marking stone is still visible. A protective iron fence guards the space.

Rector Burials

    RECTOR, William b 10 May 1792 d Feb 1873
    RECTOR, Elizabeth b 27 Sep 1795 d 22 Nov 1851

Source: Recorded by Robert J. Rose, 1983

Cemetery Records for Fremont County, Iowa; printed by the Fremont County Historical Society ~ Shared by Penny Stewart. For more information about this and other burials in Fremont county, please contact a Fremont County Look-up Volunteer for Cemetery Records.