When William Girard Pelstring was born on 2 October 1884, in Missouri, United States, his father, Bernhard Pelstring, was 42 and his mother, Elizabeth Leers, was 30. He married Nettie Hall Donohew on 18 January 1913, in Leavenworth, Kansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 5 daughters. He lived in Sigel, Shelby, Illinois, United States in 1900 and Canby, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, United States for about 20 years. He died on 18 May 1953, in Minnesota, United States, at the age of 68, and was buried in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States.