When William Edward Owings was born on 14 February 1855, in Roane, Tennessee, United States, his father, William Long Owings, was 33 and his mother, Mary Mitchell, was 32. He married Leona Angeline Akin about 1878, in Grayson, Texas, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Missouri, United States in 1870 and Grayson, Texas, United States in 1880. He died on 23 November 1925, in Grady, Jefferson, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 70, and was buried in Grady Cemetery, Grady, Jefferson, Oklahoma, United States.