When William Lewis Gentry was born on 28 August 1885, in Smith, Kansas, United States, his father, Rufus A. Gentry, was 34 and his mother, Mary Francis Porter, was 28. He married Goldie May Cordell on 19 September 1912, in Paris, Monroe, Missouri, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Johnston Township, Macon, Missouri, United States in 1900 and Easley Township, Macon, Missouri, United States in 1920. He died on 9 August 1934, in Gifford, Macon, Missouri, United States, at the age of 48, and was buried in Indian Hill Cemetery, Pettis Township, Adair, Missouri, United States.