Villem was born in 1753. Villem's father was Niklus and his mother was Liis. His paternal grandparents were Tõnn and Mari; his maternal grandfather was Rein and his maternal grandmother is <Unknown>. He had four brothers and two sisters, named Jaan, Hindrik, Jüri, Hans, Els and Anu. He was the youngest of the seven children. He died at the age of 57 in 1810.