William Cain Ruffin was born on September 29, 1865, in Graham, North Carolina. Ruffin was a banker and cotton manufacturer connected with various cotton mills in North Carolina and Virginia. During World War I, he served as the chairman of the Rockingham County Exemption Board. He and his family resided in Mayodan (Rockingham County) for twenty-five years until relocating to Winston-Salem in 1920. Ruffin died in Winston-Salem on February 18, 1921.