William reportedly was born in Connecticut. His parents are unknown. He could read and write but his wife and many of his children and in-laws were illiterate, which suggests that after his move to North Carolina he did not place high value on the education he got in his youth.

Paul Penfield, Jr., editor. Created 12 Dec 2014.

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According to many user-submitted genealogies, William died October 10, 1873 in Saint Pauls, NC. The only sources cited are other user-submitted genealogies. Another “William Penfield” did die on this date, probably in New York or Connecticut, so perhaps his death date got associated with this William by mistake. What is known is that William and his wife are reported living in NC in the 1870 census; in 1880 his wife is a widow living with their son Thomas. This implies that William died between 1870 and 1880.

Here is a list, probably incomplete, of user-submitted genealogies with this death date:
OneWorldTree, Bateman-Mercer Tree 2, BateNab.FTW2 FTW_2012-01-15, Long Family Tree, Monroe Family Tree, Monroe Family Tree, Murray-Karafotis Family Tree, Newnam-Walker-Werry-Brown, Penfield Family Tree, Powell Family Tree, Powers-Blount, Taylor Family Tree, Thomas Sutton, Thompson Family Tree, west Family Tree, and Williams Family Expanded 11-2-.

Paul Penfield, Jr., editor. Created 14 Dec 2014. Modified 29 Dec 2014.