William Bartlett was born around 1810 in North Carolina. He eventually moved to Georgia, and he married Elizabeth Jane Duskin on December 23, 1838. They had at least eight children: James, born around 1841; Ruth, born around 1842; Grace, born around 1844; Joseph, born around 1848; Thomas, born around 1851; Sarah, born around 1853; William, born around 1856; and Charles, born around 1860. In the 1840s, they moved to Alabama and then to Robertson County, Texas. Then, in the 1850s, they moved to Bexar County, Texas. He earned a living as a farmer, and by 1860, he owned $1,990 of real estate and $9,370 of personal property. A decade later, he owned $850 of real estate and $2,800 of personal property. He died sometime after June 1880.