James H. Getty was born on February 6, 1873 in Michigan and was the son of Peter and Rebekah (Cone) Getty.

On December 18, 1901, he married Julia Vogtila in Pipestone, Minnesota.

In 1905, their address was listed as Koochiching, Itasca County, MN.

James died on January 17, 1912 in El Paso, El Paso County, Texas at the age of 38. The cause of death was shown as "exhaustion contributed by tuberculosis".