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William John Motz was born to John Motz and his wife Helena Vogt Motz. He was the only surviving son and had two sisters: Mary (1868-1933) who became a Nun and Louisa (1874-1944) who married John A. Zinger and continued to live on the family land until her death.
The 1890's saw a lot of changes at the Berliner Journal and its subsidiaries. In 1897 Frederick Rittinger unexpectedly died and his share in the company was taken over by his son John Adam.
In 1899 John Motz decided to retire and in 1900 he was appointed honorary sheriff of Waterloo, a position he would hold until his death in 1911. William John took over his place in the company.
William John continued to grow the company as well as his family. He married Rose Huck Motz in 1901 and together they had two children: John George (1906-1908) who died young and John Edward (1909-1975) who would later take over the paper.
