Born in Medina, New York, according to a 1916 Centennial history of the AME Church, Rev. William H. Stark was raised in St. Catharine, Ontario. He served in a New York Civil War regiment, then worked as a cook around the Buffalo, New York area until becoming a pastor.

Rev. Stark’s first known calling may have been in Iowa at Centerville in 1909. He was then appointed to a joint assignment in Boone and Marshalltown in 1911. He sometimes preached in Newton until moving to Bedford by late 1914. While there he married Marjorie Grant in 1916. The couple moved to Keokuk in 1918 where they lived until at least 1922 as he appeared in the city directory. Rev. Stark’s death date and burial location are not known.