When James R. Southard was born on 29 September 1836, in Michigan, United States, his father, John Southard, was 41 and his mother, Harriet Helen Haight, was 34. He married Madeline Delaphina Rogers on 25 May 1869, in Tama, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. He lived in South Haven, Van Buren, Michigan, United States in 1850. He died on 15 February 1877, in United States, at the age of 40, and was buried in Southard Cemetery, Bangor, Van Buren, Michigan, United States.