John William Proctor was born in 1855 in Maidstone, VT to George William Proctor III and Lucinda T. Norris. JWP moved to California with his family in 1858. He was married to Elizabeth Sarah Dodd in Cambria, CA in 1878. They had five children; Louis A. in 1879, Cora C. in 1881, William A. in 1887, Meriela M. in 1889 and Edna L. in 1899. In 1890, he received a U.S. Land patent.
In March 1903, GWP III wrote about son John,
“… that after he helped make 300,000 bricks there he was going up to northern Cal near Chico to help make 300,000 or more bricks for the Diamond Match Co and that he will make up there his home forever.”
In 1920, he worked in a match factory. John William Proctor died of acute gastritis in Westwood, CA in January of 1921. He is buried in Chico Cemetery in Chico, California.