William Henry Thurston was born in Kingston, Wisconsin in 1855. He accepted the Adventist faith at the age of 25, and became a local church elder in the Hancock church. In 1890 he became president of the Wisconsin Sabbath School Association.
In 1894 he traveled to Brazil, where he was the first official missionary to work in Brazil. After 7 years he returned to the United States. He served as the president of the Lake Union Conference and the Canadian Union, and the Kansas conference. In 1910 he became the president of the Wisconsin Conference.