William J. Hoskins was born around 1831 in Tennessee to Neander and Margaret Hoskins. His father was a farmer who owned $500 of personal property by 1860. He lived in Montgomery County, Tennessee. By 1870, he was working as an overseer, and he owned $200 of personal property. He apparently never married, and he lived with his sisters in Montgomery County until at least 1900. He died sometime after 1900.