Born in Norwalk, Ohio, William John Edmondson was a painter of portraits and landscapes. He was born in Norwalk, Ohio in 1868. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Robert Vonnoh and with William Merritt Chase in New York City. He also studied at the Academy Julian in Paris with Jules Lefebvre.

He spent most of his career in Cleveland, Ohio and traveled West frequently, painting in California and in 1950, settling in Monrovia.