John Ethridge McCall was born on August 14, 1859, in Clarksburg, Carroll County, Tennessee,[1] McCall attended public and private schools, then received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1881 from the University of Tennessee and read law in 1882.

[1] He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Huntingdon, Tennessee in 1882.

[2] He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee from 1890 to 1891.

McCall was nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt on January 9, 1905, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee vacated by Judge Eli Shelby Hammond.

[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 17, 1905, and received his commission the same day.