William Dana Reynolds was born in Findlay, Ohio on June 12, 1893 to George and Rose Reynolds. He moved with his family to Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1912, settling in a large house on Cherokee Avenue only half a block north of the mansion of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum.

In 1917 Dana met and married socialite Vera Hunt, daughter of Charles and Helen Hunt. Vera's father was postmaster and twice mayor of Arkansas City, Kansas, and her mother Helen Hunt would, at her husband's demise, become the first woman postmaster of that city. The Hunt family would be remembered as one of the most influential founding families of Arkansas City. Dana and his wife Vera had one child, Helen, in 1916. The three were striking: at six feet tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, Dana was a marked contrast to petite Vera's dark hair and eyes.

Young daughter Helen, with her mother's chocolate coloring, was a treated as a "princess" and celebrity in the city of Bartlesville, writing her own book of children's stories before the age of eight, excerpts of which were published in over 900 newspapers around the United States.

After the earthquake disaster, the Reynolds continued their foreign travels, finally returning to the United States in late October. By 1924, W. D. Reynolds would complete construction on a nine thousand square foot mansion in Bartlesville that would rival the Phillips' mansion in luxury and style, and be the site for extravagant parties and events over the next decade. He and his family remained in Bartlesville through the Great Depression.