WILLIAM JOHN ATKINSON was born December 25, 1819 (?) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and died March 12, 1901 (probably in Lyon County, Iowa). He married MARGARET ANN GUTHRIE (or GUTHREY) April 11, 1852, daughter of JOHN GUTHRIE and ELIZA TURNEY. She was born May 10, 1836 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and died March 28, 1920 in Fruita, Colorado.

Children of WILLIAM ATKINSON and MARGARET GUTHRIE are:
i. JAMES HENRY ATKINSON, b. April 07, 1853; d. April 10, 1919; m. FANNIE R. HIGGS, January 06, 1881.
ii. HAMILTON ATKINSON, b. July 25, 1857, Pennsylvania; d. June 02, 1936; m. MATILDA R. "TILLIE" MATHERN, November 11, 1880; b. November 1860, Iowa.
iii. WILLIAM JOHN ATKINSON, b. March 25, 1860; d. December 16, 1860.
iv. MARY ELIZA ATKINSON, b. February 17, 1867, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; d. July 16, 1946, Fruita, Colorado; m. ROMANCE ERWIN BOTKIN, December 24, 1883, Plymouth County, IA; b. May 04, 1860, Springfield, Ohio; d. December 24, 1929, Fruita, Colorado.
v. SAMUEL ELLIOTT ATKINSON, b. August 24, 1869 in Iowa; d. April 20, 1905 in South Dakota; m. GERTRUDE MAE JONES, December 22, 1897; b. October 15, 1872, Stark County, IL.