His wife died at the age of 68. Their children born in Wisconsin were William and two daughters, who died in infancy. The family were members of the German Lutheran Church, of which Albert Schilling was a trustee and president for three years. William Schilling was reared to manhood in Jefferson County. His educational opportunities were limited as at an early age he had to assist his father in clearing the farm. In this way, however, he got the experience that was afterwards of much value to him. At the age of 24 he started out for himself, going to Illinois, where he worked for seventeen months on a farm, returning to Jefferson County for the following winter. Then for three summers he worked for a farmer near Whitewater, Wis. In that neighborhood he worked for five or six years.

He was then married, Jan. 18, 1881, to Elizabeth Prell, of Jefferson Township, Jefferson County, daughter of John and Marie (Peterman) Prell, who came as a young married couple from Germany to Wisconsin. After his marriage he and his wife located near Whitewater, about a mile and a half from the dairy farm of C. M. Clark, for whom Mr. Schilling worked for one year. Then, in 1883, he came to Loyal, Clark County. Here he bought a tract of forty acres in section 2, of which about six or seven acres were cleared. There was also a log shack and log stable on the place, in the former of which they made their home that fall. They had a yoke of cattle and two cows with which to begin farming, and from this start they forged ahead on the road to prosperity, which they attained in time. When he had cleared off the forty acres Mr. Schilling bought forty more and cleared a part of that.

He also rented a frame house of five rooms to replace the one-room log shanty, and built a barn 36 by 56 feet, and a large tool shed 20 by 46 feet. He raised good graded stock for which he found a ready market and became numbered among the successful farmers of his township. About 1913 he sold that farm and bought forty acres in section 12, the land being all wooded. On this he began again the work of improvement, building a neat frame house and barn and on this place, known as Little Meadow Brook Farm, he has since made good progress. He is a member of the Equity Association and has at times taken part in the affairs of local government, serving on the township side board for five years and as school treasurer nine years.

As a member of the German Lutheran Church he has been especially active in the cause of religion, having helped to build three churches, namely: in 1883, the log church in section 3, the church in Loyal in 1893, and. the present church edifice in Loyal, which was erected in 1914.

He and his wife have had three children: Hattie, wife of Max Faus, and the mother of one child, Norma: Frankie, who is depot agent at Connerce, Mont., and Albert, a farmer of Beaver Township, Clark County.