When Ralph Henry Gourlay was born on 12 August 1883, in Nebraska, United States, his father, James Henry Gourlay, was 29 and his mother, Margaret Emma Carlon, was 20. He lived in Nelson Election Precinct, Nuckolls, Nebraska, United States in 1900 and Wymore, Gage, Nebraska, United States for about 10 years. He died on 10 June 1953, in Nebraska, United States, at the age of 69, and was buried in Wymore Cemetery, Wymore, Gage, Nebraska, United States.