He was the son of John Dovell and Margaret Ford Dovell.

On April 17, 1901, he married Ruth Allen at Seattle, Washington.

They were the parents of three children.

The Oregonian Saturday, February 26, 1916

Noted Lawyer Dead

William T. Dovell, of Seattle, Succumbs to Pneumonia

Political Work Marked

Victim of Long Illness Leader in Republican Party of State of Washington From Age of 22 Until Fatal Attack

Seattle, Washington, February 25. (Special.) William Thomas Dovell, member of the law firm of Hughes, McMicken, Dovell & Ramsey, one of the keenest legal minds and one of the most prominent men in politics of the state of Washington, died at 2 o'clock this morning at his home in this city after a three months' illness from pneumonia.

Mr. Dovell was born in Walla Walla, September 21, 1869. He was educated at Whitman College in his native city. He was admitted to the bar on his 21st birthday and when only 22 years old was southeastern manager of the Senatorial campaign of John B. Allen, whose daughter he later married.

Mr. Dovell followed Mr. Allen to Seattle, having read law in his office in Walla Walla and became a member of the law firm of Struve, Allen, Hughes & McMicken. He was City Attorney for Walla Walla during the period of his early law practice and once served as Deputy Clerk for the United States District Court in that town.

Though he had been a political factor in Southeastern Washington from the time he reached his majority, had led the Allen Senatorial fight when 22 years old, had delivered a remarkable address in Seattle years before and was regarded as one of the state's most brilliant Republican speakers before he reached the age of 30, Mr. Dovell really came into his first political prominence on the West Side during the mead campaign of 1904. At his own expense he stumped the state for Mr. Mead.

In the Taft-Roosevelt fight Dovell was a strong advocate of Mr. Taft. He wrote the Republican platform adopted at Aberdeen in 1912 and was the pleader for the Taft delegation seated in the Chicago convention.

Lawyers in telegrams of condolences sent to Mrs. Dovell and to his law firm today declare that he was the best known and one of the best rounded attorneys in the state. The members of the State Supreme Court recognized Mr. Dovell's ability, when on Christmas Day they sent a letter to him declaring that at the time of his death John B. Allen was the best lawyer in the state and that Mr. Dovell had filled the place he left.

Mr. Dovell was 47 years old. His father, John Dovell, settled in Walla Walla in the early 1860s and operated the first planing mill built between Puget Sound and Montana. Mr. Dovell was President of the Washington State Bar Association in 1911 and a member of the American Bar Association. Besides his widow, he leaves two sisters and three children – Ruth Cecelia, aged 13; William Thomas Jr., aged 5 and Mary Dorothea, aged 2. The funeral will be held tomorrow at 3 o'clock from St. Joseph's Church. Interment will take place in Calvary Cemetery.

Feb. 26, 1916 "The Seattle Star" Page 8 :

Funeral of Attorney "Tom" Dovell, who died Thursday, was held Saturday afternoon from St. Joseph's church , 18th ave. and E. Aloha.