When William John Harms was born on 3 September 1903, in Cedar Lake, Barron, Wisconsin, United States, his father, John Christian Harms, was 35 and his mother, Adele Marie Sophie Fellingsiek, was 26. He married Nina Eunice Vanderhyde on 2 November 1927, in Rice Lake, Barron, Wisconsin, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 6 daughters. He died on 30 November 1987, in Canton, Fulton, Illinois, United States, at the age of 84, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Canton, Fulton, Illinois, United States.