When John Levi Davenport was born on 9 January 1850, in Fremont, Mahaska, Iowa, United States, his father, John Squire Davenport, was 23 and his mother, Madorah Pack, was 18. He married Henrietta Lydia Troth on 6 February 1868, in Mills, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 7 October 1912, in Caddo, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 62, and was buried in Munden, Republic, Kansas, United States.