James Monroe Muffley was born in Buffalo, New York in 1845 as the fifth and last child of William and Nancy Muffley.  He moved with his family to Butler County in northern Iowa about 1856.

James moved to Osage, Iowa and worked as a grain broker.  On 3 October 1877 he married Carrie Loomis, and they had two sons.

Fred Clifford  b. 1879
Max Monroe  b. 1880

James traveled by horseback with his son Fred on a long overland journey through Montana, Alberta, and Idaho in the early 1900s.  In about 1912, following Fred's marriage and establishment of a home in Idaho, James and Carrie moved to Fairfield.  Carrie died in Fairfield in 3 August 1916 and James died 17 September 1924.  Both are buried in Osage, Iowa.