Benjamin F. Carter was born around 1846 to Grayson Carter and Cassandra Smith. His father was a coal miner and shoemaker who owned $150 of real estate and $200 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, until the 1850s, when they moved to Millsboro, Pennsylvania. He remained in his parents’ household until at least 1870, and he eventually began working as a carpenter. He eventually got married and then divorced. He died of cardiac issues on December 9, 1913, in Springhill, Pennsylvania.