Mr. Cady traces his lineage from that branch of the pre-Revolutionary Cady family which settled New London, Connecticut, in 1670, and which now has representatives in nearly every State in the Union.  He was born in Wayne County, Michigan, February 10, 1861, being the son of J.B. Cady, who was born in Monroe County, New York, whence he emigrated to Michigan in 1835, settling on and improving a farm near Detroit.  He continued to till the soil as long as he was in active business and was a man of much prominence in the community where so many years of his life were passed.  He served his township as Justice of the Peace for a long term of years and was also a long-time incumbent in the office of Supervisor.  He is now living in peaceful retirement at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in his declining years is blessed with the continued companionship of his devoted wife, the mother of our subject.  Her maiden name was Jane Tilden-Blount, and she was a niece of the great lawyer and statesman, the late Samuel J. Tilden, of New York.  William B. Cady is the only child of this venerable and honored couple.

Our subject’s boyhood days were passed on the parental farmstead, where he remained until he had attained the age of eighteen years, having received his preliminary educational training in the public schools.  At the age noted he matriculated at the University of Michigan, completing a course of study in its literary department and graduating as a member of the class of 1882.  The next year he devoted to the study of law, taking a course of lectures in the law department of the university, and being admitted to the bar before Judge Joslyn at Ann Arbor, in June, 1883.  He then went to Detroit, where he entered the office of Brennan & Donnelly, prominent legal practitioners of that city, with whom he remained one year.

Now thoroughly coached in the theoretical branches of his profession, and having gained a valuable knowledge of the details of actual practice, he determined to begin operations on his own responsibility.  Thus we find Mr. Cady installed in an office of his own at Sault Sainte Marie in the spring of the year 1885.  His worth and professional ability soon gained to him recognition, for in 1886 he received the appointment as City Attorney.  The succeeding year he abandoned the practice of law to accept the position as cashier of the Sault Sainte Marie National Bank, which had just been organized and incorporated.  This exacting position he filled with signal efficiency, and to the satisfaction of all concern, until 1894, when he resigned the same to accept the office as Deputy Collector of Customs for the district.  He still retains an association with the executive affairs of the “Soo” National Bank, being chairman of its discount board.  In addition to the civic offices already noted he has been in the incumbent as City Treasurer and as Deputy County Treasurer.

Mr. Cady retains fraternal identification with the Masonic order, in which he has advanced to the Knights Templar degree; with the Knights of Pythias; the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and with the Greek college fraternity, the Beta Theta Pi.  He enjoys a distinctive popularity by reason of his genial and sympathetic nature, and is a favorite in both social and business circles.  He is at the present time president of the Sault Sainte Marie Club, representing an association of the representative business men of the city.

Our subject is an ardent Democrat and is recognized as a power in the counsels and operations of his party in the Upper Peninsula.  He is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, and for ten years past he has taken a very active part in campaign work in this section of the State.

A writer of the modern school has said that a man who can raise a beard and refuses to do so is a moral hero, and in this category of the valiant our subject must be placed, for he wears a clean-shaven face, -a fact which makes a strong individuality all the more marked.  He is of medium stature, is lithe and active and has a bearing which is at once dignified and unostentatious.  He is easily approachable and is never at loss for words to express himself, having a keen appreciation of the ridiculous and humorous, and the power of winning and retaining friends.  The biographist could not resist the temptation of entering this very sketchy pen portrait of the man, and that it will be recognized from its more salient characteristics of fidelity there can be no doubt.