Arthur was born in 1887. He married Katherine Arthur (1883–1960) and had the following children: Margaret Jean Arthur (1913- ), James Osborne Arthur, Jr. (1915–2002), John Paul Arthur (1917–1987), Robert Lee Arthur (1919–2000) and Kathryn Arthur (1923- ).[2]
^ ab"Mrs. Arthur & children". National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2009-11-17. Reverend James Osborne Arthur (1887-1971) and his wife Katherine Arthur (1883-1960) were missionaries for the Reformed Church of America, working on the Nebraska Winnebago Reservation in 1913 and among the Chiricahua and Mescalero Apaches in the Whitetail section of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico from 1914 to 1919. Their collection of photographs was inherited by their granddaughter, Barbara Jane Arthur Jacobs; donated to NMAI by Barbara Jacobs and her son Dr. James A. (Jamie) Jacobs in 2007.