William Griffith Fording was born on August 28, 1878, in Alliance, Ohio, to Hattie Griffith, age 32, and Lee Fording, age 42.
His mother passed away four years later, at the age of 36. His father raised William and his three brothers in a hotel in Alliance, Ohio.
William was a self-educated civil engineer and frequently supervised projects out of town. William met Elsie Trinkner at her family’s beer garden. He married Elsie in Cleveland on Sep 12, 1903, and had their first child, on April 9, 1904. William was best friends with Byron Willard, the son of Archibald M. Willard (artist of Spirit of 76), and named his son, Willard, after him.
William and Elsie had seven children: Willard Lee, Paul Harvey, Azalia Mary (Toots), Donald Roy, Edmund Howard, Norman Charles, and Lincoln.
William drew a lot, including a drawing of 4 bells for Fording (4-ding), and eventually received a patent.
In 1940, at age 62, William visits with daughter-in-law Kate and her daughter Nancy, granddaughter Becky, grandson Bill, and daughter Toots.
In 1953, William and Elsie celebrated their 50th anniversary.
His wife Elizabeth Wilhelmina "Elsie" passed away on January 11, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of 74. They had been married 54 years.
William Griffith Fording died on March 3, 1963, in Kansas City, Missouri, when he was 84 years old.