When James Emery Livingway was born on 2 September 1904, in Calumet, Houghton, Michigan, United States, his father, Frank E Livingway, was 23 and his mother, Julia L. Lang, was 21. He married Cleo A Idema on 23 February 1925, in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States. He lived in Laurium, Houghton, Michigan, United States in 1920 and Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States in 1975. He died on 18 December 1975, in Southfield, Oakland, Michigan, United States, at the age of 71.