John Guyton was born around 1845 in Pennsylvania to John and Eliza Guyton. His father was a farmer who owned $7,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property. He grew up and attended school in McCandless, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Union army on July 15, 1864, and mustered in as a private in Company D of the 193rd Pennsylvania Infantry four days later. He probably mustered out in November 1864 when his 100-day term of enlistment expired. He returned to his father’s farm in McCandless after leaving the army, and by 1870, he was also working as a farmer. He remained on the family farm until at least 1880. He married Mary Bodimer in Butler, Pennsylvania, on August 3, 1893. He died in Pennsylvania on August 17, 1895.