When James Spears Bourland was born on 31 May 1824, in Franklin, Alabama, United States, his father, Dubart Lee Bourland, was 21 and his mother, Mary Thomas, was 18. He married Lutitia Williams before 1852, in Franklin, Arkansas, United States. He lived in Texas, United States in 1870 and Justice Precinct 4, Blanco, Texas, United States in 1880. He died on 16 September 1886, in Concho, Texas, United States, at the age of 62, and was buried in Valley Spring Cemetery, Valley Spring, Llano, Texas, United States.