William M. Keck (1880 - 1964)

Philanthropist and founder of Superior Oil.  Family links:  Children:  Willametta Keck Day (1915 – 1985)*  Alice Bertha Keck Park (1918 – 1977)* *Calculated relationship

William Mark Felt, Sr (1913 - 2008)

FBI Agent, Watergate Figure. He was better known as “Deep Throat,” the name given him by the press to hide his identity as the secret government official who leaked details of the illegal activity relating to the Watergate Scandal.  His information led to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon, who resigned rather than face […]

William Marsh Rice (1816 - 1900)

Businessman, Educator. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Little is known about his childhood. He moved to Texas in 1838. In 1840 he started one of many businesses of which he would become involved. Houston and Galveston Navigation Company was established in 1851 and in 1858 Rice was the owner of a brig called the William M. […]

William Marshall (1924 - 2003)

Marshall was born in Gary, Indiana, the son of Thelma (née Edwards) and Vereen Marshall, who was a dentist. He attended New York University as an art student, but then trained for a theatre career at the Actors Studio, at the American Theatre Wing, and with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his Broadway […]

William Marston (1893 - 1947)

On October 25, 1940, an interview conducted by former student Olive Byrne (under the pseudonym “Olive Richard”) was published in The Family Circle (titled “Don’t Laugh at the Comics”), in which William Marston said that he saw “great educational potential” in comic books. (A follow-up article was published two years later in 1942.) The interview […]

William Mathewson (1829 - 1916)

American Frontiersman. Born in Triangle, New York, he was a daring explorer, hunter, Indian scout and fighter, and the first to be given the sobriquet, “Buffalo Bill”. In 1849, he was employed by the Northwestern Fur Company, traveling through the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, trading with the Indians and acquired his knowledge of Indian warfare. He […]

William Matthew “Bill” Tilghman, Jr (1854 - 1924)

Deputy US Marshall and Folk Figure. As a young man growing up, he had no formal education through the school system. He was well trained in all those skills that were necessary for life on the frontier. He left home at the age of fifteen and became a buffalo hunter with his older brother, Richard. […]

William Maxwell Gaines (1922 - 1992)

Publisher. He published comedy and parody “MAD Magazine”.

William McCool (1961 - 2003)

William McCool completed flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in August 1986. He was assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, for initial EA-6B Prowler training. His first operational tour was with Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 133 (VAQ-133), where he made two deployments aboard the aircraft carrier […]

William McLaren Bristol (1860 - 1935)

Businessman. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1887 and purchased Clinton Pharmaceutical Company in upstate New York with classmate John Ripley Myers, continuing the firm after Myers died in 1899. Bristol, Myers was not immediately profitable, but proved successful when it produced and marketed Sal Hepatica, a laxative mineral salt that reproduced the taste and […]

William Merritt Chase (1849 - 1916)

Artist.  William showed artistic talent as a young boy. He begin formal training in art at the age of eighteen with a local portrait painter in Indianapolis. In 1869 William went to New York, where for two years he was a student at the National Academy of Design.  In Munich at the Royal Academy he […]

William Metcalf (1894 - 1968)

William Metcalf was one of seven Canadians to be awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions on one single day, 2 September 1918, for actions across the 30-kilometre-long (19 mi) Drocourt-Quéant Line near Arras, France. The other six recipients were Bellenden Hutcheson, Arthur George Knight, Claude Joseph Patrick Nunney, Cyrus Wesley Peck, Walter Leigh Rayfield […]

William Michael Harnett (1848 - 1892)

Artist. Born in Ireland, he immigrated to the United States with his parents shortly after his birth. Becoming a citizen in 1868, he took night classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and later studied at Cooper Union in New York City. He practiced a trompe l’oeil style of realistic painting. His still […]

William Milburne James (1970 - 1970)

Lord Justice of Appeal. William was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He was the son of Christopher James. He was educated at the University of Glasgow, where he graduated MA and afterwards became an honorary LLD.  He was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn in 1831. William first practised his legal work around the […]

William Milton “Billy” Breckenridge (1846 - 1931)

Western Law Officer. He was deputy sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona at Tombstone under Sheriff John Behan at the time of the OK Corral gunfight between the Earps and the Cowboys. He is considered by most historians to have been part of the anti-Earp faction and a friend of the Cowboys (i.e., outlaws). He wrote […]

William Montague Browne (1823 - 1883)

Civil War, CSA Brigadier General. He was born in City Mayo, Ireland, and was the son of the Right Honorable D. Geoffrey Browne, Member of Parliament. He was educated at Rugby and at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. He served in the Crimean War, then joined the British diplomatic service before moving to New York City […]

William Morris (1877 - 1963)

Businessman. He was the founder of the Morris Motor Company and a philanthropist. He started his career in a bicycle shop but his genius for business led him to found Morris Motors which made him a multi-millionaire. He retired from the company’s chairmanship in 1952. He was married to Elizabeth Ansley on the 9 April […]

William Morris Hunt (1824 - 1879)

Artist. William was the son of a Vermont congressman. He learned to draw at an early age, his first teacher being an Italian artist named Gambadella. After leaving Harvard College in his third year. Following the untimely death of his father from cholera, William was taken in 1844 by his widowed mother Jane Leavitt Hunt […]

William Moses Kunstler (1919 - 1995)

Lawyer. Legendary defense attorney. Was involved with the Chicago 7 Trial, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Kent State, the occupation at Wonded Knee, Leonard Peltier, Jerry Rubin, and civil rights. (bio by: dochog)

William Nickerson, Jr (1879 - 1945)

Businessman, Founder. Nickerson was a pioneer and entrepreneur of Black business in Los Angeles. He was the founder and first president of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was the first African American life insurance company on the west coast and the largest African American life insurance company in the state of California. He […]

William Nigh (1881 - 1955)

William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either “Will Nigh” or “William Nye”. Nigh was born in Berlin, Wisconsin. He began his film career as an actor, appearing in 17 films in 1913 and 1914; he also directed […]

William Nolker (1840 - 1970)

Born in Germany, Nolker was treasurer of the St. Louis Brewing Association. He began his business career in the hotel & restaurant business, then became a messenger for the banking house of Fallis, Young & Company. He later was the general manager of the Vulcan Manufacturing Company & then later became the head of that […]

William P. De Vaull (1871 - 1945)

Stage/Vaudeville Actor. He later played in films with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., William Desmond, Dustin Farnum, Marion Davies and the Gish sisters.  Married to stage actress Lottie De Vaull with whom he’d appeared. His first film appearance was in 1915s, “The Birth of a Nation.” (bio by: TLS)  Family links:  Parents:  John De Vaull (1825 – […]

William Paca (1740 - 1799)

William Paca was born in Abingdon, in what was then Baltimore County (Abingdon was later included in Harford County when that county was formed from Baltimore County in 1773), in the British colony of Maryland. He was the child of John Paca (c. 1712 – 1785), a wealthy planter in the area, and his wife […]

William Parker (1905 - 1966)

William Parker was born in Lead, South Dakota, and raised in Deadwood. His grandfather William H. Parker (1847-1908), was an American Civil War veteran who later served in Congress. The Parker family migrated to Los Angeles, California, in 1922, for better opportunities, when the city was advertised as the “white spot of America” during that […]

William Peet (1847 - 1934)

Co-Founder of the Peet Brothers soap manufacturing company, which later became the Colgate-Palmolive Company. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouses:  Nettie Jeanette Zoeter Peet (1851 – 1927)*  Lottie M. Paddleford Peet (1862 – 1944)*  Children:  Albert William Peet (1871 – 1952)* *Calculated relationship

William Peter Bettendorf (1857 - 1910)

Inventor, Businessman. As president and co-founder of Bettendorf Axle Company, he invented the Bettendorf Truck, which revolutionized the railroad industry. Before that time, railroad trucks had been made from many smaller pieces. The Bettendorf Truck was cast from one piece of steel. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named for him and his brother, Joseph. […]

William Peter Bettendorf (1857 - 1910)

Inventor, Businessman. As president and co-founder of Bettendorf Axle Company, he invented the Bettendorf Truck, which revolutionized the railroad industry. Before that time, railroad trucks had been made from many smaller pieces. The Bettendorf Truck was cast from one piece of steel. The city of Bettendorf, Iowa is named for him and his brother, Joseph. […]

William Pinchbeck (1970 - 1893)

Canadian Frontier Figure. Born in Yorkshire, England, he was one of the original settlers in the Cariboo Region of British Columbia, Canada. In 1849, he came to California, with his two brothers to mine gold and ended up operating a hotel in San Francisco. After deciding that the gold rush was more hype than reality, […]

William Preston Few (1867 - 1940)

First President of Duke University and last President of Trinity College.  (bio by: Helen L. Smith Hoke)  Family links:  Children:  Randolph Reamey Few (1920 – 2008)* *Calculated relationship