Born in Rumford on September 18, 1823, William Wirt Virgin was the son of Peter C. Virgin an ardent old Federalist who practiced law in Rumford for sixty years.
He graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1844 and studied law with his father, being admitted to the bar in 1847 and moving to Norway, Maine where he practiced law until 1871.
While a resident of Norway, he was County Attorney for three years and a member of the State Senate in 1865 and 1866, serving as President of that body in the latter year, resigning to be appointed Reporter of Decisions, an office he held until 1872 when he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.
As Reporter of Decisions, he published "Virgin’s Digest of Maine Reports" and seven volumes of "Maine Reports."
During the Civil War he raised the Twenty-third Regiment of Maine infantry, a nine-month regiment consisting of five companies each from Oxford and Androscoggin Counties who spent their time in federal service in the defenses of Washington.