William McCauley was born in about September 1738 in County Antrim, Ireland. A resident of Orange County, North Carolina, he served as a major in the Orange County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia from 1780 to 1783 and was briefly captured at the Battle of Hillsborough in 1781 before being paroled. He also served as a local justice of the peace and represented Orange in the North Carolina State House for several terms. He died in Orange County on December 20, 1825.