When William Elmer Ritchey was born on 8 June 1863, in Bedford, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States, his father, Daniel Ritchey, was 23 and his mother, Susannah Crist, was 26. He married Cora Belle Smith on 7 December 1887, in Port Clinton, Ottawa, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 8 daughters. He lived in Bloomdale, Wood, Ohio, United States in 1920 and Cass Township, Richland, Ohio, United States in 1935. He died on 17 January 1935, in Cass, Hancock, Ohio, United States, at the age of 71, and was buried in West Union Cemetery, Gibsonburg, Sandusky, Ohio, United States.