When John J. Sweeney was born in May 1805, in Washington, Kentucky, United States, his father, Daniel Sweeney, was 28 and his mother, Elizabeth Jones, was 28. He married Mariah S. Board on 26 December 1826, in Harrodsburg, Mercer, Kentucky, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 6 September 1848, in Perryville, Boyle, Kentucky, United States, at the age of 43, and was buried in Nevada, Mercer, Kentucky, United States.