February 20, 1879, he was married to Miss Ellen Myers, daughter of Simon and Catherine (Crist) Myers. The fruit of this union is five children, of whom three still survive: Elson M., born January 9, 1880; J. Cleve, born June 13, 1882, and Lester R., born January 11, 1892. The deceased were H. Floyd, who died May 13, 1887, aged six months, and Lillian Grace, who died March 30, 1890, aged one year and twenty days.

Mrs. [Ellen Myers] Fry, who was born September 12, 1856, and died February 1, 1887, was a devout Methodist for nearly twenty-three years. Her father, Simon Myers, is farmer of Summit county, and to his marriage, in 1854, to Catherine Crist, were born five children, and of the survivors Hattie is the wife of Allen Cook, Delilah is the wife of Charles Adams, Wilson is married to Ella Gates, Florian to Lulu Wise. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Fry were natives of Mahoning county, where the grandfather was for a time a merchant, but later became a miller, and then a farmer, and was the owner of a large estate at the time of his death. He was the father of three children, of whom Catherine (Mrs. Myers) and Harrison are still living. The grandfather of Mrs. Fry died April 11, 1891, and the grandmother January 14, 1892, in the faith of the Evangelical church.

James Smith Fry is a stanch republican in politics, and was a warm advocate for the election of William McKinley.

Portrait and Biographical Record of Portage and Summit Counties, A. W. Bowen, publishers (1898), p. 756.