When James Luther Johnson was born on 9 January 1825, in Turman Township, Sullivan, Indiana, United States, his father, James Luther Johnson, was 25 and his mother, Hanah Watson, was 26. He married Rhoda Bartlett Allen on 2 March 1848. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Sullivan, Sullivan, Indiana, United States for about 40 years. He died on 24 June 1914, in Graysville, Turman Township, Sullivan, Indiana, United States, at the age of 89, and was buried in Turman Township, Sullivan, Indiana, United States.