When James Hans Jertson was born on 21 February 1845, in Holla, Telemark, Norway, his father, Hans Ulefos Gjertsen, was 28 and his mother, Aslaug Maria Andersdatter, was 24. He married Clara Christine Isaacson on 17 November 1869, in Lewiston, Columbia, Wisconsin, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Coeur d'Alene, Kootenai, Idaho, United States in 1910 and Hazel Run, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, United States in 1920. He died on 12 February 1923, in Clarkfield, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, United States, at the age of 77, and was buried in Hazel Run, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, United States.