When James Levi Conaway was born on 31 December 1901, in Blaine, Pottawatomie, Kansas, United States, his father, John Valentine Conaway, was 47 and his mother, Charity Allen, was 41. He married Tressa Cleo Martin on 6 August 1921, in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He lived in Spring Creek Township, Pottawatomie, Kansas, United States for about 10 years and Silver Lake, Shawnee, Kansas, United States in 1930. He died on 6 December 1949, in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas, United States, at the age of 47, and was buried in Topeka, Shawnee, Kansas, United States.