Benjamin Shartzer was born on October 28, 1819, in Virginia. He married a woman named Bidsey, and they had at least four children: William Riley, born on January 8, 1842; Nathaniel, born around 1845; Squire, born around 1851; and Stanley, born around 1865. They lived in Virginia until the late 1840s, when they moved to Grayson County, Kentucky. Shartzer worked as a shoemaker, and by 1850, he owned $100 of real estate. By 1870, he owned $800 of real estate and $400 of personal property. He died on October 28, 1895.