Amos Golay Runyan was born October 15, 1878 in Geneva, Alabama, the youngest of five children born to William Bell Runyan and Clarine Golay.  He was the owner of Runyan Machine and Boiler Works, which he later sold to his childhood friend and partner Randel Bell.

                On November 24, 1909 in Escambia County, Amos Runyan married Modeste Wilkins.  They were the parents of two sons and one daughter: Wm Gonzalez Runyan , Ethel and Amos Golay Runyan Jr.  Daughter Ethel B. Runyan was born in 1917 and died October 11, 2010 in Colorado.  She married John Henry Stewart Johnson, having four sons.  Amos Golay Runyan Sr. died November 12, 1941 in Pensacola, and buried next to his wife Modeste Runyan, and their two sons in their family plot.