When James Gardner was born on 25 May 1864, in Selma, Van Buren, Iowa, United States, his father, Robert Thomas Gardner Jr., was 43 and his mother, Rachel Kimpson, was 34. He married Lulu B. Rodgers on 24 June 1903, in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He lived in Iowa, United States in 1870 and Village Township, Van Buren, Iowa, United States for about 5 years. He died in 1943, in Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs, El Paso, Colorado, United States.