Born: September 10, 1870, Charleston, Missouri.
Died: December 24, 1955, St. Louis, Missouri.
Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery, Bel-Nor, Missouri.
William was the son of Albert H. Danforth and Rebecca Hannah Lynn, and husband of Adda Bush (married 1894).
He grew up in Mississippi County, Missouri, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1892.
He founded the Ralston-Purina company in St. Louis in 1894, and was a co-founder of the American Youth Foundation (AYF) in 1924.