When John Oceola Grier was born in June 1881, in Alabama, United States, his father, George Washington Grier, was 37 and his mother, Josephine Elizabeth Culver, was 32. He married Harriet Susan Arant on 16 November 1902, in Wadsworth, Autauga, Alabama, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in Lightwood, Elmore, Alabama, United States in 1930 and Election Precinct 14 Lightwood, Elmore, Alabama, United States in 1940. He died on 25 October 1948, in Wetumpka, Elmore, Alabama, United States, at the age of 67.