When James Reese Potter was born on 20 July 1896, in Midway, Wasatch, Utah, United States, his father, Wallace Edwin Potter, was 46 and his mother, Harriett Susan Kempton, was 40. He married Elva Bernice Walker on 27 August 1921. They were the parents of at least 3 sons. He lived in Garfield, Salt Lake, Utah, United States in 1930 and Pomona, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1935. He registered for military service in 1920. He died on 8 July 1970, in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, at the age of 73, and was buried in San Rafael, Marin, California, United States.