When William Riley Radford was born on 6 February 1835, in Washington, Missouri, United States, his father, Millender Radford, was 26 and his mother, Permelia Freelove Parker, was 22. He married Alzada Jane Sutterfield on 5 January 1854, in Reynolds, Missouri, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 4 daughters. He lived in Missouri, United States in 1870 and Jackson Township, Reynolds, Missouri, United States in 1880. He died on 29 September 1889, in Reynolds, Missouri, United States, at the age of 54, and was buried in Sutterfield Cemetery, Jackson Township, Reynolds, Missouri, United States.