William Norris was born on May 20, 1803 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.  He received his bachelor of arts degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1824 and began to study law in Bellefonte.  In 1826 he was admitted to the Centre County Bar and began to practice law.  However, a loss of his voice forced Norris to abandon that profession; he then moved to Lewistown and became engaged in the iron industry.  After several years in this trade, Norris was a surveyor from 1848 to 1852 and was a surveyor for the port of Philadelphia.

Thomas Williams was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1806, the son of Robert Williams, a Cecil County, Maryland native.  He was educated at local schools and then enrolled in Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, graduating with the Class of 1825.  He returned to Greensburg to study law under Judge Richard Coulter and was admitted to the Westmoreland County bar in 1828.  Four years later he moved his practice to Pittsburgh.  Though his mentor Coulter was a Jacksonian, Williams became a Whig in reaction to Jackson's anti-national bank stance.