William Julian Albert was born on August 4, 1816, in Baltimore, Maryland to a family of German descent.

[2] His brother was Augustus James Albert, owner of the Mount Vernon Hotel.

He was a prominent Union leader in Maryland and worked to prevent the secession of the State during the American Civil War.

and an asylum for orphans and worked to assist African American freedmen during the Reconstruction era, co-founding a school for black teachers in Baltimore.

[citation needed] Albert died in Baltimore on March 29, 1879, after suffering from Bright's disease.