Born in Gerry (now Phillipston), Mass., son of Benjamin H. and Jane (Bronsdon) Lamb. He married Augusta Loretta Cummings on Sept. 15, 1833 in Phillipston. Census records show that he was a tanner & currier (1850-1865), a stone mason (1870) and then a farm laborer (1880).

He was a Civil War Veteran. Lamb served as a private in Co. G. 34th Mass. Inf. Reg. of Massachusetts. He was two months shy of serving 3 years during the war. Half-way through his time he was transferred to the Invalid Corps at Washington, D. C., serving the remainder of his enlistment as a private in Co. F. 18th Reg. of the Veteran Reserve Corps. According to his personal letter applying for his war pension he stated:

"That in January A.D. 1864 I was placed on picket duty out on Bolivar Heights, near Harpers Ferry, Va.

That only one days rations was furnished me & that I there remained on service for four days & three nights, with only the rations aforesaid.

That it was stormy & very cold & that while there on picket duty, & in the direct line of my duty as a soldier, I took a severe cold which settled across my back & affected my kidneys."

Lamb mustered out of the Reserve Corp. at D. C. June 27, 1865. He left the war permanently deaf in one ear, believed to be caused by the constant cannon fire in his vicinity. He lived to be 83. He died in Winchendon, his wife followed him 11 days later.

Census information:

1850 at Phillipston, MA: Wm. J. Lamb, 38, tanner & currier; wife, Augusta L., 38, children, William H. 15, Amos S., 13, Frances J., 11, Lucius E. (Lucia), 6, Delphia B., 4, and Clemenia M., 2; and a boarder, Lewis King, 18, laborer.

1855 at Phillipston, MA: William J. Lamb, 43, tanner; wife, Augusta L., 43; children, William H., 20, tanner, Amos S., 18, tanner, Frances J., 16, Lucia C., 11, Adelpha B., 9, Climena M., 7, Benjamin F., 4, and Ezra C., 2.

1860 at Phillipston, MA: William J. Lamb, 48, tanner & currier; wife, Agusta L., 47; children, Lucia C., 16, Adelphia B., 14, Matilda C., 11, Benjamin F., 9, and Abbie L., 3; and boarders, George A. Martin, 25, farmer, Charles M. Bates, 26, farmer.

1865 at Phillipston, MA: William J. Lamb, 52, tanner; wife, Augusta L., 52; children, Matilda, 16, Benjamin F., 13, Ezra C., 12, and Abbie L., 8; son-in-law, George D. Townsend, 25, soldier; daughter, Delphia B. Townsend, 19; and boarders, Sarah E. Dunton, 31, (and her daughters), Lizzie E. Dunton, 9, and Nellie J. Dunton, 1. The Duntons were labeled as paupers in this census.

1870 at Phillipston, MA: William J. Lamb, 58, stone mason; wife, Augusta L., 58; and children, Ezra, 17, works on farm, and Abby, 13.

1880 at Phillipston, MA: William J. Lamb, 68, farm laborer; and wife, Augusta L., 68.