When George Shattuck Barrows was born on 4 October 1871, in Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey, United States, his father, William Eliot Barrows, was 29 and his mother, Emma Harriet Shattuck, was 24. He married Ethel Randolph Clay on 10 February 1896, in Riverton, Burlington, New Jersey, United States. He lived in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States in 1880 and Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States for about 10 years. He died on 14 December 1962, in Dighton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States, at the age of 91, and was buried in Dighton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States.