When Henry James Colson was born on 8 August 1867, in Lee, Virginia, United States, his father, David Crockett Colson, was 31 and his mother, Malissa Thompson, was 31. He married Malissa Elizabeth Foster in Richmond, Madison, Kentucky, United States. They were the parents of at least 9 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Eden Township, Payne, Oklahoma, United States in 1910 and Casper, Natrona, Wyoming, United States in 1920. He died on 5 July 1924, in Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 56.