When William Shepherd Baxter was born on 12 September 1828, in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, his father, John Baxter, was 23 and his mother, Mary Shepherd, was 26. He married Harriet Eliza Merchant on 14 March 1858, in Beaver, Beaver, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He immigrated to Utah, United States in 1857. He died on 21 June 1865, in Salina, Sevier, Utah, United States, at the age of 36, and was buried in Salina, Sevier, Utah, United States.