John Rance Denson was born in 1871, son of Joseph W Denson and Ellen Elizabeth Bigley Denson.

In 1892, John married Anna Belle Whitehead, daughter of Jacob T Whitehead and Josephine O Crammer Whitehead. John and Anna Belle had eight children, born in New Hope, Bucks, Pennsylvania: Raymond (1893), Hugh Fox (1895-1921), Bertha (1900), Roy (1903), Ellen E (1907), Margaret (1911), Albert J (1914) and Arthur S (1918). John and his wife eventually moved to Lambertville where they would live out the rest of their days.

John worked for a great deal of his career with the Pennsylvania steam railroad as a carpenter, car builder and later as a car inspector.

John Rance Denson died in June 1971, just short of his 100th birthday. He is buried with his wife at Holcombe Riverview Cemetery in Lambertville, Hunterdon, New Jersey.