When John Robert Teem was born on 3 February 1866, in Brasstown, Clay, North Carolina, United States, his father, Leander Miles Teem, was 38 and his mother, Mary Woods Gilbert, was 36. He married Sarah Catherine Irvin on 29 September 1887. They were the parents of at least 9 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Adams, Idaho, United States in 1935 and Foster Election Precinct, Linn, Oregon, United States in 1940. He died on 10 June 1957, in Sweet Home, Linn, Oregon, United States, at the age of 91, and was buried in Sweet Home, Linn, Oregon, United States.