Iona McWilliams was married to J. T. McWilliams, an early settler to the Las Vegas, Nevada area. Iona Ida McWilliams was born in 1876, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was sent to school to learn to be a school teacher in Philadelphia. She later developed a lung ailment and her doctor suggested moving to Needles, California as a form of treatment. Iona met J. T. McWilliams in Needles and the two married in 1897. In 1898, she had a daughter that the couple named Emily Eleanor, often called Nellie. Iona McWilliams died in May of 1969 at age 92.