William Whims was born in Bellaire, Ohio on May 27, 1838 to Henry and Henrietta Davis Whims. In 1861 Whims joined the Virginia Snake Hunters, an independent company led by John Baggs, a fellow resident of Pultney Township, Belmont Count. The Snake Hunters operated in northwest (West) Virginia between Wheeling and Charleston. On February 15, 1862 Whims enlisted in the 61st which was then recruiting in Bellaire. After the regiment was organized that April he was appointed a sergeant in Company H. Whims served as sergeant until March 31, 1865 when he mustered out at Goldsboro, North Carolina. Returning to Ohio, Whims took a job in Columbus with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, working as a clerk and yard master. In 1879 he married Lyda Stein. Whims was admitted to the state hospital in 1908 and he died there of bronchial pneumonia on July 15, 1910. Whims is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus.
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