James R. Conner was born around 1839 in Ohio to William and Anna Conner. His father was a farmer who owned $2,000 of real estate and $600 of personal property. He grew up and attended school in Jackson, Ohio, and by 1860, he was working as a teacher. He moved to Berkshire, Ohio, in the 1860s, and by 1870, he owned $300 of personal property.

 

He returned to his mother’s household in Jackson in the 1870s. He married Anna Rebecca Jacobs around 1878, and they had at least four children: May, born around 1879; Flora, born around 1882; Grace, born around 1890; and Minerva, born around 1894. By 1880, Conner was working as a newspaper editor. The family moved to Athens, Ohio, in the late 1800s, and by 1900, Conner was working as a minister. They were living in Garrettsville, Ohio, in 1910 and in Cincinnati, Ohio, a decade later. His wife probably died in the 1920s, and by 1930, he was living in his daughter May’s household in Cincinnati. He died in Ohio on July 1, 1930.

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