James Laurence Sprunt was born on July 4, 1886, in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Sprunt was the son of James Sprunt, a prominent cotton merchant and exporter in Wilmington, North Carolina. During World War I, Gov. Thomas W. Bickett put his name forward for service as a Food Commissioner under Herbert Hoover, who was then running the United States Food Administration. Sprunt instead volunteered for service in the United States Navy, serving on the Seminole and the Delaware. He died in Wilmington on June 18, 1973.