When James Clifford Egelston was born on 5 June 1897, in Glencoe, Gallatin, Kentucky, United States, his father, Benjamin Franklin Egelston, was 37 and his mother, Katherine Kenney, was 29. He married Hazel Elizabeth Grant about 1922, in Lakeland, Polk, Florida, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in Election Precinct 36, Hillsborough, Florida, United States in 1940 and Hillsborough, Florida, United States in 1945. He registered for military service in 1918. He died on 6 May 1974, in Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States, at the age of 76, and was buried in Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, United States.