lawyer, author, civic leader, b. Troy, N.Y. He graduated from Williams College (B.A., 1869) and Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. (LL.B., 1873). In 1875 he moved to Milwaukee, where he set up a law practice in which he was active during most of his life. In Milwaukee, Wight soon became active in civic affairs, and in 1877 was instrumental in persuading the Milwaukee Young Men's Association to give its library of 10,000 volumes to the city as a nucleus for a public library. He was instrumental in founding the Milwaukee Law Library Association, and served as its librarian; he was also a founder of the Civil Service Reform Association, which later became the non-partisan board of fire and police commissioners. Wight was for many years a trustee of Milwaukee College (Milwaukee- Downer). An ardent amateur historian, Wight was active in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, serving as vice-president (1896-1904), president (1904-1910), and curator (1897-1931). He was the author of a biography of Henry Clay Payne, published in 1907, as well as several other historical works. J. R. Berryman, ed., Bench and Bar of Wis. (2 vols., Chicago, 1898); J. G. Gregory, Hist. of Milwaukee (4 vols., Chicago, 1931); Milwaukee Journal, Jan. 3, 1931.

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

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]