William H. McSurely
William H. McSurely was born January 27, 1865, in Oxford. Ohio. He went with his parents to Kirkwood, Illinois, in 1867, and returned to Loveland, Ohio, in 1868, and in 1869 went to Hillsboro, Ohio. His boyhood was passed there. He attended the Public schools there. In January, 1880, he attended the South Salem Academy and in the Fall of 1881 entered the Freshman class at Wooster University. He graduated in 1886. After that, he read law in Hiilsboro for one year under Hon. Frank Steele. He went to Chicago in 1887 and went into the office of Norton, Burley and Howell, and completed his law studies with them, and was admitted to practice in 1888. He became a member of the firm of Norton & Burley on January 1, 1893.
He was married October 18, 1892, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Cadman, whose father, now deceased, had been one of the most brilliant lawyers in Chicago. On the death of Mr. James S. Norton, the senior member of the firm of which Mr. McSurely was the junior member, the firm was and has since been reorganized and took the firm name of Burley & McSurely. Mr. and Mrs. McSurely have one daughter, and one deceased.
Those who know him best say of him, he is a Christian gentleman, a man graced with dignity and elevation of spirit, of clear and quick perceptions, of manners frank and affable, of cheerful spirit and benevolent disposition. In his profession, he is prompt, decisive, upright and successful. When but a beginner in the law, he was chosen for merit by the distinguished late James Sage Norton to be a partner with himself and the talented Mr. Clarence A. Burley, in their firm, and he has won by work and has obtained an honorable standing among that class of lawyers known to be the best in their profession.
From "History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time" - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900