William Windom is born in Belmont City, Ohio. After settling in Winona in 1855, Windom represented Minnesota in the US Congress as both a congressman and a senator. He later served as secretary of the treasury under Presidents James A. Garfield and Benjamin Harrison. His likeness appears on the 1891 two-dollar bill, and Windom in Cottonwood County is named for him. He died in 1891.