William M. Colladay

William McLean Colladay (April 12, 1809 – September 26, 1893) was an American carpenter, farmer, Republican politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate and State Assembly, representing eastern Dane County. He was the first permanent American settler in the town of Dunn, Dane County, Wisconsin.

Biography William M. Colladay was born on April 12, 1809, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was raised and educated in Pennsylvania, but traveled to Upper Canada shortly in the 1830s. He soon returned to the United States, moving to Illinois, where he worked for several years as a mail carrier between Chicago and Aurora, Illinois. In the mid-1840s, Colladay moved to the Wisconsin Territory and settled land in what is now the town of Dunn, in Dane County.

Colladay died on September 26, 1893, at his home at "Colladay's Point" on Lake Kegonsa.

Personal life and family William M. Colladay was the youngest child of Charles Colladay and his wife Ann ( McLain).

Colladay was also active in Freemasonry and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As a Mason, he saw to the creation of the Stoughton lodge by walking to Milwaukee and paying the fee to obtain a charter for the new lodge.

Electoral history Wisconsin Senate (1870)