John and Myrtle Gruelle began their married life in Indianapolis and moved with their young daughter to Cleveland, Ohio. Gruelle's widow, Myrtle (Swann) Gruelle Silsby, who remarried for a brief period in 1945, died on April 25, 1968, at the age of eighty-three. The Gruelles also had two sons, Worth, who became an artist and illustrator, and Richard 'Dick' Gruelle. Marcella, the first of their three children, was born on August 18, 1902, and died on November 8, 1915, at age 13. Swann, in Indianapolis, where they were married on March 23, 1901. Nineteen-year-old Gruelle met his future wife, Myrtle J. Justin studied art in Indianapolis and New York City and became a landscape painter, illustrator, and muralist.

She also became an author of children's books and a syndicated newspaper columnist. Prudence trained as a vocalist in New York City, performed in vaudeville theaters, and married Albert Matzke, an illustrator and watercolorist. John, who likely attended public schools in Indianapolis as a youth, became interested in art, and learned drawing from his father. Gruelle's parents exposed all three children to music, literature, and art. John was the eldest child of the Gruelle family, which also included a younger sister, Prudence (1884–1966), and a brother, Justin (1889–1979). Gruelle later honored Riley's memory in his own book, The Orphant Annie Story Book (1921), written in tribute to Riley's famous poem. Another Gruelle family friends was Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, whose poems 'The Elf-Child,' later titled ' Little Orphant Annie' (1885), and ' The Raggedy Man' (1888), eventually formed the name for John Gruelle's iconic Raggedy Ann character. In addition to Richard Gruelle, the informal group included William Forsyth, T. His father, Richard, who was a self-taught portrait and landscape painter who became associated with the Hoosier Group of American Impressionist painters. John was exposed to art and literature at an early age. The Gruelles made Indianapolis their home for more than twenty-five years. In 1882, when Gruelle was two years old, he moved with his parents to Indianapolis, Indiana, and settled in a home on Tacoma Avenue in what is the present-day Lockerbie Square Historic District. Gruelle was born in Arcola, Illinois, on December 24, 1880, to Alice (Benton) and Richard Buckner Gruelle. He was the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard Gruelle. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major news syndicates, and more than a dozen national magazines. He also created the Beloved Belindy doll. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. John Barton Gruelle (Decem– January 9, 1938) was an American artist, political cartoonist, children's book and comics author, illustrator, and storyteller. The Magical Land of Noom (1922), and other books

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