When James E. Mc Donald was born on 8 April 1875, in Greene, Indiana, United States, his father, Evan McDonald, was 52 and his mother, Phoebe Ellen Maines, was 40. He married Edna W. Wittmer on 2 October 1901, in Marion, Indiana, United States. He lived in Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States in 1930. He died in 1953, at the age of 78, and was buried in Indianapolis, Marion, Indiana, United States.