When James Henry Shively was born on 18 January 1861, in Adams, Ohio, United States, his father, Jacob Shiveley, was 45 and his mother, Elinor Ann Hornback, was 42. He married Mary "Mollie" Franklin Brown on 13 December 1883, in Jefferson Township, Adams, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Hamersville, Clark Township, Brown, Ohio, United States in 1900. He died on 5 February 1905, in Hamersville, Brown, Ohio, United States, at the age of 44, and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Feesburg, Brown, Ohio, United States.