John Jefferson Morfoot was born on April 22, 1845, in Bucyrus, Ohio, to Charles Morfoot and Elizabeth Boyer. His father was a bricklayer who owned $500 of real estate by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Bucyrus. He enlisted in the Union army on May 30, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company K of the 86th Ohio Infantry on June 10. He mustered out three months later, on September 25, 1862. He reenlisted on October 1, 1863, and he mustered in as a private in Company A of the 12th Ohio Cavalry on October 17. He became a bugler on June 15, 1864, and he mustered out on November 14, 1865.
He returned to Ohio after the war, and he married Susan B. Blough on December 9, 1866. Their daughter Bertha was born around 1869. Morfoot worked as a laborer, and by 1870, he owned $400 of personal property. By 1880, he was living in Greenfield, Ohio. He applied for a federal pension in April 1889 and eventually secured one. His wife died in the late 1800s, and he married Elizabeth Morris on November 7, 1899. By 1900, they were living in Bucyrus again. He died of blood poisoning there on September 9, 1912.