William (4) Looney was born about 1785 in what is now Hawkins County, Tennessee. He descends from a long line of frontiersmen: his father, Michael Looney, was a Revolutionary War veteran and an early settler in Stanley Valley, near Rogersville, Hawkins County, Tennessee. William's grandfather, Absalom Looney, discovered the area in Virginia known as Abb's Valley. William's great-grandfather, Robert Looney, was the first of his line to arrive in America, with wife Elizabeth, in the early 1720s from the Isle of Man. Robert established Looney's Mill, Looney’s Ferry, and Looney’s Fort, all important frontier outposts in Virginia near the James River.

William Looney is recorded as one of the first settlers on Eleven Point River in what is now Randolph County, Arkansas. William and two Stubblefield cousins (probably Fielding and Coleman) arrived at Eleven Point possibly as early as 1802. William and cousins often traveled a two-week journey of 135 miles as far as Cape Girardeau, Missouri to purchase supplies.

William, his Stubblefield cousins, and others who came shortly afterward including the Baker, Garrett, McIlroy, Rice, Vandergriff, Wells, and White families laid the foundations for communities such as Dalton, Elm Store, and Gladesville.

During this period, William Looney served as justice of the peace and magistrate in Davidson and Union townships (1816 – ca 1825), and Captain in the 3rd Regiment, Arkansas Militia (commissioned 1820).

In 1823, William was granted patents for land south of Dalton. He, wife Rhoda Stubblefield (daughter of William Stubblefield and Elizabeth McDaniel) and family, built a home that still exists today. The William Looney Homeplace is noted as one of the oldest in Randolph County. At its peak, the old homeplace included 1,500 acres, and its orchards produced as much as 1,500 gallons of brandy each year. By about 1850, the extended Looney, McIlroy, Stubblefield, and Wells families owned most of the land near Eleven Point River in a 30-mile stretch from Elm Store to Birdell. The old homeplace has remained in the hands of William Looney’s relatives, descendants of the Downey, Rice and Stubblefield families.

In 1843, William Looney purchased land in Pocahontas (originally called Bettis' Bluff) from Thomas Drew. The initial map of Pocahontas showed that William Looney owned the whole block on the south side of the old court square.

The town of Pitman was established near Current River in 1853. Among its first businessmen were William Looney’s son, Michael Looney, and son-in-law, Erasmus Pitman. Together, they built a steam/saw/grist mill and a distillery.

William Looney died April 1846 in Randolph Co, Arkansas. His wife, Rhoda, died in August 1847. They had 10 children:

Elizabeth Looney married David Ferrill,
Cinderalla Looney married John Wells,
Mariah Looney (apparently never married),
Thena Looney married Pleasant Stubblefield,
Serena Margaret Looney married Abraham (Absalom) B. Stubblefield,
Absalom Looney married Mary Emily White,
Epps Looney married (1) Elizabeth Stubblefield and (2) Mary Ann Stubblefield,
William S. Looney married (1) Mary "Polly" Wells and (2) Catherine Louisa Garrett,
Michael Looney married (1) Nancy Kinkard and (2) Artemicia Bailey Jobe Simmons,
Temperance Looney married Erasmus D. Pitman.