William McMurtry (February 20, 1801 – April 10, 1875) was the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois and a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
In 1842 he was elected to the Illinois State Senate, where he stayed until being added to the Democratic ticket of Governor Augustus French after the previous Lt.
After his term as lieutenant governor, William ran for office in the US Congress in 1854 in Illinois' 4th Congressional District losing to Opposition/Republican Party candidate James Knox.
At the outset of the Civil War, he organized and led as colonel the 102nd Illinois Infantry, which was made up of men from Knox County.
William McMurtry though only served a couple of months before receiving an honorable discharge due to poor health attributed to his advanced age.