Hampton Watson was born April 6, 1859 to a large family. In his early teens, he moved from Germantown, Tennessee to Hope, Arkansas with three of his brothers. In 1880, they relocated to Jonesboro. In Jonesboro, Hampton established a hardware store with his brothers which later would merge with the Jonesboro Hardware Company. Hampton married Maggie Field on July 22, 1896 and they soon welcomed three daughters: Frances, Elizabeth, and Margaret.

Hampton was active in the growing community of Jonesboro. He invested in the First National Bank, held controlling interest in the Jonesboro Hardware Company, and regularly participated at the First Methodist Church. Hampton died in 1923, his wife and children surviving him.

Elmer Garver was born in 1862 in McVeytown, PA. He attended Lebanon Valley College studying medicine. His younger sister Lola Garver also attended LVC to study piano, organ, and choir. In 1881 Elmer graduated from LVC with a bachelor of science in medicine. Shortly after he relocated to Hastings, Nebraska and married. Mary and Elmer welcome their only son Leigh in 1893, but Elmer died two years later in 1895. Mary Garver eventually remarried in 1903 to Otto Barth. Otto raised Leigh as his own though Leigh continued to use the last name Garver.

After becoming a traveling auditor for the Emporia Telephone Company, Leigh married a longtime friend, Miss Margaret K. Together they settled in Kansas City, Missouri.