When John Marion Peavyhouse was born on 10 January 1870, in Fentress, Tennessee, United States, his father, George Washington Pevyhouse Jr, was 25 and his mother, Melvina Jane Wright, was 35. He married Thursey Ann Price about 1895, in Jamestown, Fentress, Tennessee, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Civil District 1, Claiborne, Tennessee, United States in 1930 and Civil District 1, Fentress, Tennessee, United States in 1940. He died on 30 June 1953, in Fentress, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 83.