When John Richard Tatom was born on 9 December 1855, in Lafayette, Arkansas, United States, his father, Stephen Wright Tatom, was 27 and his mother, Susannah F Guinn, was 17. He married Darthula Adoline Jarnagan on 10 February 1881, in Lafayette, Arkansas, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Boone Township, Columbia, Arkansas, United States in 1900 and Baker, Lafayette, Arkansas, United States for about 10 years. He died on 22 September 1927, in Lafayette, Arkansas, United States, at the age of 71, and was buried in Sardis Cemetery, Stamps, Lafayette, Arkansas, United States.