When John Matthew Livingston was born on 4 September 1804, in Peach Bottom Township, York, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, John Livingston, was 32 and his mother, Jeanette "Jennie" Dinsmore, was 21. He married Sarah Ramsay on 2 August 1836. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 15 July 1873, in Jackson Township, Ashland, Ohio, United States, at the age of 68.