When James Daniel Palmateer was born on 22 June 1847, in Branch, Michigan, United States, his father, Garrett Richard Palmateer, was 40 and his mother, Sybil Covell, was 37. He married Anna T. Davis on 22 January 1871. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Elkhorn Judicial Township, San Joaquin, California, United States in 1920 and Oregon City, Clackamas, Oregon, United States in 1926. He died on 27 July 1926, in Clackamas, Oregon, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Lodi Cemetery, Lodi, San Joaquin, California, United States.