When John Lucian Cathey was born on 15 January 1876, in Choestoe, Union, Georgia, United States, his father, Julius Young Cathey, was 28 and his mother, Rebecca Louvenia Wood, was 30. He married Hattie Ann Dyer on 13 January 1898, in Union, Georgia, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Habersham, Georgia, United States in 1935 and District 921, Muscogee, Georgia, United States in 1940. He died on 4 April 1960, in Cornelia, Habersham, Georgia, United States, at the age of 84, and was buried in Habersham, Bartow, Georgia, United States.