William was the youngest of the nine children born to James McAfee and Jane McMichael McAfee. The oldest three McAfee brothers were born in Ireland, however, William and his other siblings were born in Pennsylvania after the family had immigrated.
Williams' parents moved the family first to North Carolina and then onto Roanoke, Virginia.
William married Rebecca Curry. Rebecca was the daughter of Thomas Curry and Mary McAfee (She was William's first cousin). William and Rebecca had at least four children: Ann, Thomas, Mary and Margaret McAfee.
In 1774, William went with his older brothers James Jr., George, Robert, and Samuel to survey land in Kentucky. The McAfees were one of the first families in Kentucky along with the Harrod family and Daniel Boone. (Daniel Boone was actually a friend of the McAfees). (SOURCE: Robert B. McAfee, Life and Times of Robert B. McAfee and Family, Originally pub. in 1848, reprinted in "Register of Kentucky Historical Society" beginning in 1929. Online transcription.)
During the Indian Wars, William was a Captain in General George Clark's expedition to destroy the Shawnee Indian strongholds along the Ohio River. William McAfee commanded the company raised at Harrodsburg. On August 8, 1780, William McAfee was shot through the breast but did not immediately appear to be mortally wounded. He was carried on a litter between two horses to the Ohio at the mouth of the Licking River and then down the falls of the Ohio and then to Floyd's station for the purpose of conveying him to his home by canoe. However, he was too ill to leave Floyd's station and there he waited until his wife came to see him. William died on September 8, 1780. (SOURCES: The McAfee Family of Scotland, Ireland and America Also the Matthew Forsythe Descendants, p. 197. Also The McAfee-Stiles-Liebmann Memorial page 26)
