William was the ninth of thirteen children. He attended the Hunts Corners school and worked on his father's farm. At age 19 he studied commercial bookkeeping at Northern Indiana Normal College in Valparaiso.

Over the next five years, William travelled the country. He first partnered with his brother, Samuel, in Kansas in the sheep business and then worked in restaurants in numerous cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

William also adventured to Alaska and the Yukon in search of gold during those years. He took a steamer from Seattle to Skagway, Alaska, and then walked 111 miles along the railroad track to Whitehorse as he didn't have the money for a ticket. From there, he and seven other men took a rowboat to Dawson City. They took turns rowing in two shifts and made the trip down the Yukon River in three days and three nights.

In Dawson City he got a job at the Library Restaurant where he was paid $35 a week and was able to bunk upstairs. The family genealogy states that soon William "decided he had seen enough of dance halls, saloons, gambling, glitter, the pans and sluices. . .and just wanted to go back home."

He made a brief visit to Ohio and then returned again in 1905 for his father's funeral. William then settled in Chicago for eight years, again working in restaurants.

In 1913 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, and in the first year, met his future wife, Sara Meade. They were married July 24, 1917. Seven years later, they began to study spiritualism and became ordained ministers in that faith.

Also in Detroit, William worked at Pick-Fort Shelby Hotel for 10 years before retiring in 1955 at the age of 76.

Source: Heymann History and Genealogy, 1560-1997, by Reva June Nasby.