William Francis Butt was born on November 30, 1857, in Malvern, Ohio to Henry Butt and Elizabeth Charlotte Callaway. His father died shortly after returning home from the Civil War, so his mother remarried Isaac Whimpey who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from England. This new family had several children with the same first name thus William was known as "Frank" for much of his life. William made his way to Lehi, Utah in October 1880. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on October 20, 1880. While he worked in the coal mines of Schofield and Bingham, Utah, he eventually moved back to Lehi where he met his wife. William married Laura Ellen Bushman on November 11, 1885, in Logan, Utah. Together they had six children. William served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to do genealogy work in England in 1894 and to proselyte in the Central States in 1896. He had an interest in genealogy throughout his life and was a life member of the Utah Genealogical Society. William died on June 11, 1940, in Provo, Utah.