James Hollister Hunter was born around 1830 in New York to Albert and Julia Hunter. His father was a carpenter who owned $500 of real estate by 1850. The family moved to Marysville, Ohio, in the 1840s, and he attended Hanover College. He married Rachel S. Harvey on September 24, 1856. They had at least seven children: Albert, born around 1858; Ida May, born around 1859; Harry, born around 1861; Mary, born around 1863; Lulu, born around 1865; Grace, born around 1868; and Catharine, born around 1871. They lived in Hanover, Indiana, and he earned a living as a carpenter. By 1860, he owned $800 of real estate and $100 of personal property.
He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1864. The family probably moved to Minnesota in the 1860s, and his wife died in 1871. He married Martha C. Hosack on October 17, 1872, and their daughter Martha was born around 1876. They moved to Graham, Kansas, in the 1870s, and by 1900, they were living in Union, Pennsylvania. He died near New Castle, Pennsylvania, on August 21, 1900.