William M. Jones was born on May 20, 1836, in Westfield, New York, to Robert and Mary Jones. His father was an English immigrant and a laborer who owned $400 of real estate and $400 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Westfield until the 1850s, when they moved to Ripley, New York. He married Eleanor Knapp in the late 1850s, and they had at least four children: Seymour, born around 1857; Maria, born around 1860; William, born around 1862; Walter, born around 1869. By 1860, Jones was working as a farm laborer.
He enlisted in the Union army on August 11, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 112th New York Infantry four days later. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall, with light hair and blue eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Cold Harbor, the siege of Petersburg, and the Carolinas campaign. He may have earned a promotion to corporal, and he mustered out on June 13, 1865.
Jones returned to Ripley after the war, and he earned a living as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $300 of real estate. The family moved to North East, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s, and Jones worked as a carpenter there. He died of “aortic regurgitation” in North East on May 6, 1910.