When Jesse Thompson McGonagle was born on 19 July 1888, in Franklin Township, Harrison, Ohio, United States, his father, Wilson Ellsworth McGonagle, was 25 and his mother, Sarah Alice White, was 29. He married Ada Lee Birney on 24 December 1913, in Cozad, Dawson, Nebraska, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He died on 13 May 1970, in Powell, Park, Wyoming, United States, at the age of 81, and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, Powell, Park, Wyoming, United States.