When Moroni Ballantyne was born on 19 December 1877, in Bandera, Bandera, Texas, United States, his father, Robert Ballantyne, was 49 and his mother, Marinda Minear, was 35. He died on 9 October 1879, in his hometown, at the age of 1, and was buried in Dunlap, Harrison, Iowa, United States.