James Getty, Jr was born on November 24, 1837 in in the town land of Dreen, just outside of the village of Cullybackey, County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland. He was the third of the nine children of James, Sr and Matilda (McCaughey) Getty.

James, Jr. arrived with his parents and six siblings at the port of New York on October 2, 1852 aboard the the SS William Rathbone.

He married Elizabeth Willis (1844-1913) in 1863 and they had three children:

1. Edith May (Getty) Parker

2. Willis Samuel Getty

3. James Grant Getty

On July 8, 1906, at the age of 69, James died at his home in Clearwater Township, Kalkaska County and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Kalkaska. There is no stone.

Elizabeth died at the age 68 years on February 25, 1913, at her home in Clearwater Township.

"JAMES GETTY, JR...was listed on the 1851 Ahoghill Census as 13 years and 4 months, occupation linen weaver, and education cannot read. In October of 1852 he came to America with his family, to Groveland, New York, just south of Rochester.

In 1854 the Gettys moved to Michigan and settled in the new area of Ridgeway Township, Lenawee County, and developed property on the north side of what is now known as Downing Highway just northeast of the town of Britton. At the time of the move, James was seventeen years old and for a time he helped his father develop the new land for farming but it soon became apparent that he was pot cut out to be a farmer, and in time he sought other types of work including working with William in his blacksmith shop. The Civil War came along and life was disrupted, however James went back to help his father on the farm to provide much needed food for the Union army.

...in 1865 they moved north to Antrim County where James filed for Homestead on the southwest of Section J4 in Central Lake Township, Antrim County, where a son, Willis Samuel, was born in 1866. In this same year James' brother, William, had married Adeline Baird and had moved to a temporary residence in Helena Township, Antrim County, and in 1867 had filed for Homestead on the northeast of Section 4 which was just south of and abutting on James' homestead.

Early in 1870 James left the homestead property and took up temporary residence in Torch Lake Township where a second son, James Grant, was born on August 7, 1870. They apparently then moved back to Ridgeway Township.

On October 30, 1871, James Getty, Sr. sold to James Getty, Jr., both of Ridgeway Township, 80 acres situated in the Township of Dundee. It was sold for $500 and was described as the west of the northeast of Section 6.

On March 25, 1873, James Getty, Jr. and Elizabeth Getty his wife of Macon Township sold the same 80 acres to Henry McCarbery for $1000. About this time James and his family moved back to his homestead in Central Lake Township, Antrim County. On August 17, 1874, James Getty, Jr., of the Township of Central Lake, County of Antrim, bought 20 acres for $400 from his brother, Charles Getty, of the same place.  On May 1, 1875, James and family were living in a very small house on the shore of Torch Lake and were still there as of October 31, 1875.

In 1880 James was associated with a livery stable in Kalkaska. On April 16, 1883, James bought the st of the southeast of Section 32 from a man named Morrison. This property was south of the little settlement of Barker Creek in Clearwater Township, Kalkaska County. Barker Creek, for a time, served as a United States Land Office for registering homestead claims. James remained in the Barker Creek area until his death in 1906."