When James Robert Poindexter was born on October 23, 1860, in Harrison, Kentucky, his father, Oscar, was 43 and his mother, Malinda, was 31. He married Mary Lou Whiteker on July 23, 1885, in his hometown. They had two children during their marriage. He died on October 13, 1940, in Lexington, Kentucky, at the age of 79, and was buried in Cynthiana, Kentucky.