William Collier Hodnett was born on May 2, 1793, in Virginia, to Benjamin Hodnett and Elizabeth Collier. He moved to Georgia by the early 1800s, and he served in the Jasper County militia during the War of 1812. He married Caroline Finley on March 1, 1826, and they had at least fourteen children: George Troup, born around 1826; Thomas Jefferson, born around 1828; Benjamin Franklin, born around 1830; Mary Elizabeth, born around 1832; Elizabeth Susan, born around 1834; James Madison, born around 1836; Susan, born around 1839; John Wesley, born around 1840; Samuel Graham, born around 1842; William Henry Harrison, born around 1844; Robert Ridley, born around 1846; Lovick Pierce, born around 1849; Martha Ann, born around 1851; and Columbus, born around 1854. Hodnett worked as a farmer, and he owned $3000 of real estate in 1850. A decade later, he owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property. He died in Troup County on September 29, 1863.