William James Donogh was born in Egremont Township, Ontario. The 1881 census shows him living in Egremont at age 21, and a farmer. He married Frankie May some time before 1901, and they moved to Manitoba. The 1901 census shows him living in Brandon, a farmer who can read and write and claims Irish heritage.

Frankie May was born in Ontario on January 25th 1873, and died in Alexander, Manitoba on January 24th, 1909. William and Frankie had two children: Marjorie and Mary.

William remarried, to Mary Jane Langman, in Souris, Manitoba. Mary Jane Langman was born in 1865 and died in 1940.