When Walter M. McGee was born on 27 January 1860, in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, United States, his father, James F. McGee, was 32 and his mother, Elizabeth Ann Merklee, was 28. He married Mary Alice Yerkes about 1882. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He immigrated to New York City, New York, United States in 1929 and lived in Somerset, New Jersey, United States in 1905 and North Plainfield, Somerset, New Jersey, United States for about 30 years. He died on 30 May 1952, at the age of 92, and was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Scotch Plains Township, Union, New Jersey, United States.