Inman, William, 1843-1924.

William A. Inman was born in Limestone County, Alabama, on 22 January 1843. By the time he was five years old, Inman's family moved to Indiana. Within the next few years both parents died leaving Inman homeless. During the next few years, Inman worked as a hired hand for farmers. Relatives from Greene County, Missouri, sent for him and he lived with them until he became an adult. He received an education and also apprenticed in a printer's shop.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Inman and his Missouri family sided with the Union. In December 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Phelp's six-month infantry regiment, of the Missouri volunteers. He left this unit the following May and resumed his work in the printing business. In July 1862, Inman again enlisted. This time he became a member of the Eighth Missouri Volunteer Cavalry's Company K. Inman rapidly moved up the officer ranks as he participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, which cleared Confederate forces from Missouri and achieved Union control of Arkansas, and the Battle of Prairie Grove, which kept northwest Arkansas under Union control. Finally, he participated in the Union siege of Little Rock, Arkansas. Inman resigned in October 1864, in Arkansas, as a captain.

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