William E. Stoddard was born in Arlington, Van Buren county, Michigan, on June 28, 1869, being the son of Samuel and Harriet (Moden) Stoddard. The father was born in 1837, in Hartford, Connecticut. He was descended from John Stoddard, who was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1742, probably of English extraction and from that date to the present there is a full genealogical tree without a break. Our subject is thus descended from a noble ancestry and it may be said of him that he in no wise has allowed the banner to droop. The name was formerly Standard and the family dates back to William the Conqueror. Our subject's father died at Leland, on June 22, 1898. His mother was a native of England and came to the United States with her parents at the age of eight. Her parents died, the mother in January, 1900, and the father in February, 1898. William's mother lives in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

Our subject was educated in the public schools and finished his training in the Spokane Business College. When eighteen he came to Leland with his father, who took land where the present town stands. William remained on the farm until 1892, then visited in various places for a year when he returned and took charge of a grain warehouse with the Kendrick Grain Company. Following his course in the business college he managed the T. S. Cantril Mercantile Company for two and one half years, manifesting here excellent ability and gaining a gratifying success. He then operated a blacksmith shop for a time which was sold. Later, he ran on the Democratic ticket for assessor and although he was two hundred ahead of his ticket, he suffered defeat. He has always been in attendance on the county conventions and is a potent factor there. Mr. Stoddard is a member of the 1. O. O. F., Leland No. 90; of the W. W., Leland Camp 327; also of the Women of Woodcraft, Circle 217. Mr. Stoddard served as justice of the peace for four years in Leland and was universally liked in this relation.

On September 1, 1898, Mr. Stoddard married Mary A., daughter of Samuel J. and Elizabeth (Harris) Richards, natives of England. The father was a miner and now is in the employ of J. P. Vollmer. The mother was married in Wisconsin and died in 1886, aged thirty-eight. Mrs. Stoddard was born in Mineral Point. Wisconsin, on January 13, 1880. She has one brother and one sister, Joseph F., a hardware merchant in Alberta; Annie L., wife of John H. Day, a shoe dealer in Mineral Point. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stoddard, Rosetta E. and Elsworth S. Mrs. Stoddard was educated in Illinois. Mr. Stoddard owns the land over which the Kendrick tramway runs.