When Jilte Zaagman was born on 1 June 1861, in Startenhuizen, Groningen, Netherlands, his father, Willem Zaagman, was 33 and his mother, Jakomina Keizer, was 32. He married Jennie Kregel on 8 September 1883, in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 31 March 1936, in Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States, at the age of 74, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan, United States.