When Richard Parsons Willett was born on 10 February 1827, in McNairy, Tennessee, United States, his father, Andrew Willett, was 28 and his mother, Julia Benson Shropshire, was 19. He married Elisabeth Ann Barr on 26 December 1849. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Franklin Township, Bourbon, Kansas, United States in 1880. He died on 8 March 1905, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States.