When William Lewis Richards was born on 22 April 1838, in Prairie du Chien, Crawford, Wisconsin, United States, his father, Milo Richards, was 45 and his mother, Cornelia Lewis, was 34. He married Harriet Melvina Coffman on 26 August 1866. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Jennings, Decatur, Kansas, United States in 1880 and Highland Township, Adams, Nebraska, United States in 1900. He died on 17 May 1905, in Joplin, Jasper, Missouri, United States, at the age of 67, and was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Galena Township, Jasper, Missouri, United States.