When William Marshall Rice was born on 16 January 1894, in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma, United States, his father, Jordan John Rice, was 30 and his mother, Margaret L. Watkins Rice, was 17. He married Stella Matilda Witten on 3 February 1926, in Choctaw, Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. He lived in Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States in 1930 and Sulphur Township, McCurtain, Oklahoma, United States in 1940. He registered for military service in 1929. He died on 10 November 1973, in Glendale, Maricopa, Arizona, United States, at the age of 79.