When Jens Christensen Straaagaard was born on 8 September 1848, in Dalby, Vejle, Denmark, his father, Johannes Christensen Straagaard, was 41 and his mother, Metta Christiana Pedersen Westermark, was 38. He married Clara Dwinell on 5 October 1881, in Baker, Oregon, United States. He died on 24 November 1907, in Haines, Baker, Oregon, United States, at the age of 59, and was buried in Wingville Cemetery, Baker City, Baker, Oregon, United States.