When Willie Curtis Arthur was born on 2 April 1899, in South Carolina, United States, his father, John Daniel Arthur, was 46 and his mother, Rhoda Cleopatra Armida Eleslie Roof, was 35. He married Mamie Marie Chapman about 1919, in South Carolina, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 30 January 1969, at the age of 69.