When John R Biddle was born in December 1861, in Montgomery, Indiana, United States, his father, Bazil T. Biddle, was 29 and his mother, Sarah Ann Cowan, was 18. He married Armecie Lidster on 23 June 1888, in Montgomery, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in Butler Township, Vermilion, Illinois, United States for about 30 years and Center Township, Hendricks, Indiana, United States in 1920. He died in October 1924, in Rossville, Vermilion, Illinois, United States, at the age of 62, and was buried in Rossville Cemetery, Vermilion, Illinois, United States.