He was later the husband of science-fiction writer Alice B. Sheldon (alias James Tiptree Jr.), 12 years his junior. In 1987, she shot and killed Sheldon and then herself in what was either a murder-suicide or, based on her personal writings, a suicide pact.
They were married on April 12, 1928, and had three children, Huntington, Audrey, and Peter. The marriage ended in divorce in November 1936.