When William Harrison was born in January 1844, in Tyendinaga, Hastings, Ontario, Canada, his father, Thomas Harrison, was 28 and his mother, Mary Jane Hewitt, was 33. He married Margaret McCullough about 1880, in Canada. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Macdonald, Manitoba, Canada for about 5 years and Manitoba, Canada in 1916. He died on 14 October 1916, in Graysville, Dufferin, Manitoba, Canada, at the age of 72, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Carman, Manitoba, Canada.