William A. Ferguson was born in January 1831 in Alabama. By 1860, he was working as a merchant in Pickensville, Alabama, and he owned $9,500 of personal property. He was living in the household of James Chalmers, and he eventually married Chalmers’ daughter Mary. They had at least seven children: Mary, born around 1862; William, born around 1873; Chalmers, born around 1876; Janet, born around 1878; Frank, born around 1880; Claudine, born around 1882; and Bryant, born around 1885. He served in the Confederate army. By 1900, he was living in Salem, Virginia, and working as a farmer. He died there on January 20, 1902.