William Huston Bone was born on March 30, 1842, in South Lebanon, Ohio, to James and Adrian Bone. His father was a carpenter who owned $950 of real estate by 1850, and he died on August 11, 1851. Bone grew up and attended school in Turtle Creek, Ohio, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer.
He enlisted in the Union army on August 6, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company A of the 79th Ohio Infantry on August 23. He was promoted to corporal on May 19, 1864. He expressed devotion to the Union, writing that he was "fighting for the good of my country and not for the money." He was wounded in the Battle of Peachtree Creek on July 20, 1864, and he was transferred to the 6th Veterans Reserve Corps on January 1, 1865. He mustered out on July 14, 1865.
He returned to Turtle Creek after the war, and he married Martha H. Thompson on January 9, 1866. They had at least three children: James, born around 1867; Anna, born around 1869; and Lena, born around 1873. He worked as a farmer in Turtle Creek, Ohio, and by 1870, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,800 of personal property. He applied for a federal pension in October 1873 and eventually received one. By 1890, he was suffering from chronic dyspepsia. He died of pernicious anemia in Lebanon, Ohio, on February 16, 1908.