When John Hershall Clay was born on 19 May 1881, in Umatilla, Oregon, United States, his father, John Crawford Clay, was 32 and his mother, Nancy Catherine Swagerty, was 29. He married Jessie Leontain Elizabeth Barham in 1906, in Washington, Idaho, United States. He lived in Riggins, Idaho, Idaho, United States in 1930 and Riggins Election Precinct, Idaho, Idaho, United States in 1940. He died on 6 August 1961, at the age of 80.