When Harriet Elizabeth Waters was born on 24 January 1896, in West Virginia, United States, her father, John Washington Waters, was 36 and her mother, Mary Louella Jeffers, was 19. She married Ira Dallas Talkington on 28 January 1914, in Wheeling, Ohio, West Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 6 daughters. She lived in Tyler, West Virginia, United States for about 10 years and McElroy Magisterial District, Tyler, West Virginia, United States in 1940. She died on 23 February 1974, in Harrison, Ohio, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Oaklawn Memorial Park, West Liberty, Ohio, West Virginia, United States.