Rev. William Allen Hallock was born in Plainfield, Mass., in 1794. His father was Rev. Moses Hallock and his mother was Margaret Allen Hallock. William was the oldest of five, four boys and a girl. William would graduate from Williams College at the age of 25 and in 1819 he would enter Andover Theological Seminary. Upon graduation, he was approached by Dr. Justin Edwards of the New England Tract Society. Dr. Edwards told William that the organization was in dire need of an agent and offered him the job. He would accept the offer and begin his work for the New England Tract Society in September 1822.

William’s work as an agent for the New England Tract Society sent him across the states, visiting various towns in order to sell tracts and memberships. During this time, William became enthralled with the society and resolved to expand its influence nationally. In 1825, such an opportunity appeared, though with less input from William then he would have hoped. The New York-based Religious Tract Society had called for a National American Tract Society that would be stationed in New York. William expressed concern with this arrangement, but it seems he was convinced in the end that a national society forwarded his goals more than staying separate. Following the formation of the new American Tract Society, William would be a corresponding secretary for about 45 years. William would also provide edits for tracts and the Society’s publications.

William would marry Fanny Leffingwell Lathrop in 1829 and would go on to have six children, though only two (Fanny and Harriet) would make it past infancy. In 1867, his wife Fanny would pass away. The following year, he would marry Mary Angeline Lathrop, a writer of tracts for the young that he had known while working at the American Tract Society. They would remain together until William’s death at the age of 80 on October 2, 1880.