When John Farley was born in 1796, in Virginia, United States, his father, Stephen Farley, was 34 and his mother, Mary Mitchell, was 29. He married Martha A. about 1830, in Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Putnam, Tennessee, United States in 1860 and Huntington Township, Gallia, Ohio, United States in 1880. He died from 1860 to 1870, in Tennessee, United States, at the age of 74.