William Henry, the first of Martin Van Buren & Jane Ellen (Bell) Vance's children, was born in Washington County, Arkansas, on October 18, 1855.

Will's mother died when he was about six years old, and he and his younger brothers, James Calvin and Jesse, stayed with their Vance grandparents. In 1865, his father married a widow, Elmira "Ellen" (Woodward) Gillian, who had four young children. He and his brother, James, known as Cal, went to live with Martin and his new family. His younger brother, Jesse, stayed with their Vance grandparents. In 1878, Cal went to Texas to seek his fortune.

Early in the spring of 1879, Will helped his father plant a large cotton crop. At this time he was courting Drucilla Jane Greason, a teenage girl, who lived in Mt. Levi, a few miles from Fort Douglas. On May 27, 1879, they applied for a marriage license. The license lists William Vance, age 22, from Fort Douglas, and Miss Siller Jane Greason, age 17, from Mt. Levi. Drucilla was underage, so her mother, Ceneda Jane (Greason) Callahan, was required to give her written consent for the marriage. Two days later, May 29, they were married in Johnson County by W.J. Bristow, a Newton County minister. An entry in their family bible shows that their wedding took place at the Mt. Pleasant church, located about five miles west of Mt. Levi.

Will and Drucilla moved into a log house on a farm near Fort Douglas close to Big Piney Creek. His father died on January 6, 1880, several months after they had married.
By 1887 they had five children: Lizey, James, Sarah, Leonard, and John. Of the five only James and Sarah survived.

Will studied to become a doctor. This was possibly during the time he was in Arkansas and was influenced by his brother-in-law, George Dodson, who had studied medicine. In those days a man trained as an apprentice under a doctor and started a practice when they were qualified. For some reason he decided not to pursue this profession.

Around the first part of March 1889, Will and Drucilla packed a wagon with their belongings to move to Texas. Drucilla was in the last weeks of pregnancy and was expecting their sixth child. Three had already perished, leaving seven year old James and Sarah, age four.

At the end of their journey they found a farm near Stony Point, Collin County, Texas, a sparse settlement that had been named from the white boulders rising from the ground nearby. They probably did some of their shopping in the larger settlements of Blue Ridge or Altoga. Blue Ridge, about 5 miles east of Stony Point, was located on the top of a hill and was named from blue-flowering grass that looked like a blue haze in the distance. It had a post office, cotton gin, sawmill, and gristmill. Altoga, where they moved a few years later, was about three miles south of Stony Point.

On April 13, 1889, shortly after they arrived, Drucilla gave birth to their sixth child, Cordelia. More children were born while they were in Collin County: Leaonidus, Hiram, Laura, Pearl, Clarence, and Beacher Lonnie. Leaonidus died August 14, 1890; Laura Ethel, September 3, 1895; and Clarence, June 26, 1899. The little ones were buried in the Altoga Cemetery.

By January 1900, Will and his brother, Cal, were considering opening an implement store in Altoga to sell farm machinery. On January 25, 1900, a McKinney newspaper article under "Altoga Atoms" gave a description of Altoga's growth, and mentioned Cal and Will: "Altoga has boomed, and is booming. The rumor is that Rucker & Co. will sell out in the near future to L. Cameron, also Calvin Vance and his brother, Will, have been prospecting with the view of opening up an implement house, and when we get our academy completed, we will have one of the most lively villages in the state. So if there is anyone that is wanting a business location in a country village, just come to Altoga and we will treat you right. Allen Mantooth will erect a new store house in north Altoga on Main street, just as soon as he can get the lumber hauled out, which he expects to fill with family groceries. So look out McKinney, you will have to do better in the future, or else you will not get any trade from the forks of the creek over here. We hear that Jim Moreland is going to erect a nice two story dwelling in the spring."

If they went into business together, it was only for a short time because Cal and his wife moved to Carson County, Texas, in 1902 and took up farming and ranching for the next twenty years.

The year Will started in the ministry as a Baptist preacher is unknown. One record attesting to his credentials was on October 17, 1899, when he performed the marriage ceremony for his half-brother, Edmon Vance. Drucilla gave birth to three more children, making a total of 15. The three were William, Vicie May, and Mary Josephine.

They left Altoga sometime after Josie's birth in 1904. In the spring of 1910, they lived in Clapham, a small town in New Mexico, where stock raising was the principle industry.

Will and his son, James, owned adjoining farms. The date they moved their families back to Texas, is unknown, however they were back as early as 1912. Will's step-brother, Hiram Thomas Vance, died in Altoga on June 2, 1912. His obituary showed that Will lived near Copesville, Collin County, at that time. In Noveember 1912, Will and Drucilla bought a farm in Peeltown and built a bungalow style home.

Drucilla enjoyed gardening, and a large garden was soon planted nearby in the back yard. At an early age, Will's father had taught him the essential art of making and repairing tools and shoeing horses. These skills and his industrious nature inspired him to open a little country store and a blacksmith shop. Both were conveniently located in the front yard, with their house between the two. His proficiency paid off, and he was quite successful.

An orchard of black walnut trees was already growing on the property. Will planted an orchard of peaches and pears and cultivated the trees with iron shavings, which resulted in an abundance of fruit. In his spare time, he enjoyed fishing along the banks of what he called "his creek." Geneva said the creek was about six feet wide, and she remembers walking on rocks to cross it. Will's son, James, eventually moved to the farm with his family and rented part of the property across the creek. There was enough land for him to farm and make a living for his family. Will continued preaching in churches and holding brush arbor meetings.

Drucilla became ill with breast cancer, which spread to the rest of her body. She lost her battle with cancer on January 19, 1919, and was buried in Cottonwood Cemetery.

On January 8, 1922, Will married "Vick" Pendergraft, who was recently widowed and was five months pregnant. Novia Victoria "Vick" Romine Pendergraft, 29 years younger than him, had been married twice and had two children, Roy Sanders and Winnie Pendergraft. On May 6, 1922, she gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Lottie May Vance.
They had one daughter of their own, Rosie Lee, who was born July 6, 1924. Rosie Lee said her mother went to live with her father on his farm in Peeltown after they were married. Will was 65 years old when she was born.

Will was a Baptist preacher but later became a Pentecostal preacher. According to Rosie Lee, he was preaching at a Baptist meeting, ". . . when he got to the scripture about Pentecost, he saw the light right then and made the decision to become a Pentecostal preacher." Her parents traveled by wagon when her father preached. Many of the meetings were held in brush arbors when the weather was agreeable. The services would usually last until quite late, so they seldom got home before 2:00 a.m.

During the last few years before his death, Will often remarked that he would die in the pulpit when he was preaching. His prediction almost came true. On Sunday evening, May 20, 1934, while preaching he was struck down with an excruciating abdominal pain. He could not continue, and Vick helped him outside and into the back of the wagon where he laid down. She drove home, helped him to bed, and took care of the horses.

Dr. Walter E. Scaubrough was called to the house the following morning but was unable to do anything to help. Will suffered more than two days until his death on Wednesday at 2:30 a.m. on May 23. The cause of his death was reported to be a ruptured peptic ulcer and an intestinal obstruction. He was 78 years old.

His body was laid out and prepared for burial at home. One of his grandsons remembers the big crowd that came to the house to pay their respects. It was pouring down rain when his casket was loaded on the wagon. The rain and muddy road made it difficult for the team as they struggled to pull the wagon to the cemetery. Funeral services were held at the Cottonwood Cemetery, after which he was buried beside Drucilla.

Will's oldest son, James, inherited the Vance family Bible. After he died it was passed down to his descendants. Vick remained on the farm several years. She was a diabetic, and when she was totally blind, the house was sold. She died April 7, 1950, and was buried in the Kemp Cemetery.

Source: Much of the information came from my book, "The Family of James and Caroline Bell."