HISTORIC REFLECTION … Old Bill’s grave is located on the west side of U.S. Route 127, north of County Road F. Old Bill was a horse born circa 1840 that reportedly once carried U.S. Mail between Bryan and Hillsdale, Michigan. Around 1856 Old Bill was purchased by Jacob Youse who owned a grocery in Bryan and a farm northeast of the intersection of U.S. Route 127 and County Road F. A newspaper account states that “when Old Bill finally passed from sun to shadow, he was buried in a corner of the farm with as much sympathy as befitted one who had passed his years in faithful service of the family,” on a high bluff overlooking scenic Beaver Creek. Youse family tradition holds that Jacob was friends with Emory Willett, who started a tombstone business in Bryan in 1878. Willett reportedly told Youse that if he could find a large chunk of granite, he would carve an inscription on it for Old Bill. In the lower left hand corner of the grave marker “E. Willett” appears. Below Willett’s name is inscribed the Latin word “fecit,” followed by what appears to be “78 10-7.” Fecit means “he made it,” indicating either that Emory Willett carved Old Bill’s tombstone on October 7, 1878, or that Old Bill passed away on that date. Based on available information, the tombstone is the original marker. In the spring of 1958 the Williams County Historical Society retooled the marker’s lettering to make it easier to read and mounted the stone on a concrete base to display it more prominently. This photograph of Old Bill’s grave is from the Kevin Maynard collection.
