John William Temple was born Nov. 9, 1879 in Nashville, Tennessee. He served in the Spanish-American War in Troop D, 9th Cavalry. Around the turn of the century, Temple married Pearl Thompson (born June 24, 1885 in Topeka, Kansas). The family moved to Topeka, Kansas in 1910, where Temple worked as a letter carrier until his 1945 retirement, and Pearl worked from the home as a seamstress. The Temples had four children, James, Jeanette, Alberta, and Frederick. John Temple died April 16, 1968; Pearl Temple died April 30, 1970.