When Hiram Jefferson Pennell was born on 19 October 1868, in Alexander, North Carolina, United States, his father, William F Pennell, was 35 and his mother, Suzannah Rosetia Matilda Barlow, was 27. He married Mary Jane Coffee on 24 July 1892, in Alexander, North Carolina, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Walton Magisterial District, Charlotte, Virginia, United States in 1920 and Little River, Alexander, North Carolina, United States in 1930. He died on 9 January 1949, in Taylorsville, Alexander, North Carolina, United States, at the age of 80, and was buried in Dover Baptist Church Cemetery, Ellendale, Alexander, North Carolina, United States.