When James Alfred Bane was born on 10 September 1851, in Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia, United States, his father, Frederick Bane, was 39 and his mother, Lydia Blodgett, was 33. He married Sidney Jane Ingram on 13 April 1871, in Marshall, West Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Cameron Magisterial District, Marshall, West Virginia, United States in 1900. He died on 6 June 1933, in Cameron, Marshall, West Virginia, United States, at the age of 81, and was buried in Fork Ridge, Tazewell, Virginia, United States.