Personal life Burroughs was the son of a mechanic and worked with machines throughout his childhood. While a small boy, his parents moved to
Auburn, New York, where he and his brothers were educated in public schools. He married his wife, Ida (née Selover) in 1879. They had two sons and two daughters: Jennie, Horace, Mortimer (father of
William S. Burroughs II), and Helen. ==Company founder==