When Horace Swartley Poley was born on 1 August 1863, in Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Francis Boyer Poley, was 43 and his mother, Barbara K. Swartley, was 32. He married Margaret Jane Ferguson on 20 June 1889, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Pennsylvania, United States in 1870 and Norristown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States in 1880. He died in June 1949, in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado, United States, at the age of 85, and was buried in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado, United States.