William E. Woollard, a New York native, was born in Albany on March 26, 1876 to Henry and Margaret Woollard. He was educated in Albany and eventually pursued law at Albany Law School. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1897 and was admitted to the bar in the same year. He was an active member of society, strongly advocating for the improvement of the Hudson River channel. Throughout his life he held a number of political positions including General of the State, Vice President of Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association, director of National Rivers and Harbors Congress and New York State Waterways Association, director of Albany Chamber of Commerce, as well as chairman of the legal Advisory Board in Albany during World War I. He married Harriet Byers Holland in 1901 and died on September 1, 1940.