William T. Spear was born at Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, attended public schools and learned the printing trade, apprenticing at the Trumbull Whig and Transcript, published at Warren.

[5] He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Trumbull County in 1871 and 1873, and City Solicitor of Warren in 1873 and 1875, all the while in practice with C. A.

[4] In 1885, Spear was nominated by the Republicans to fill the un-expired term on the Ohio Supreme Court of John W. Okey, and defeated Democrat Gibson Atherton, who had been appointed to fill the seat for a few months.

[6] Atherton resigned in December that year, and Spear was appointed to fill the seat in the Interim.

[3][5] Spear died less than a year after retiring at his home in Columbus, Ohio on December 8, 1913.