William L. La Follette (November 30, 1860-December 20, 1934) was a member of the United States House of Representatives representing Washington. He served from 1911 to 1919. La Follette born in Thorntown, Indiana, near Shammondale, Boone County, Indiana. He attended the graded schools in Thorntown and at the same time clerked in a store and was employed at the jewelry trade. He attended Indiana Central Normal College in Thorntown before moving west in 1876. He first moved to the Territory of Washington, then to the Willamette Valley of Oregon, to the Palouse country, and finally to Whitman County, Washington. There he engaged in agricultural pursuits, stock raising, and fruit growing and was also extensively engaged as an orchardist at Wawawai, Washington.
La Follette was a member of the World’s Fair Commission and had charge of the Washington State building at the Chicago Exposition in 1893. He served as a member of the State House of Representatives from 1899 to 1901. In 1908, he disposed of his fruit interests and moved to Pullman, Washington. He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1911 to March 3, 1919). However, in 1918 he ran unsuccessfully for renomination.
La Follette resided in Spokane, Washington from 1920 to 1923 and in Princess Anne, Maryland from 1924 to 1925. He moved to Colfax, Washington in 1927 and resumed his former business activities.
William La Follette's daughter, Suzanne La Follette, became a noted conservative journalist. She helped to found The Freeman and National Review magazines. His son Chester La Follette was a painter. He was a first cousin of Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr..
