William Speer was born around 1803 in Indiana. He married Mary Barnhill on July 29, 1824, and they had at least seven children: Sarah, born around 1828; Robert, born around 1833; Thomas, born around 1836; Henry, born around 1839; William, born on January 12, 1842; Sandford, born around 1845; and Mary, born around 1848. They lived in Wayne, Indiana, and Speer worked as a farmer. He probably supported the Whig Party, as he apparently named a son after President William Henry Harrison. He died in January 1864.