Joseph Chester Springer was born on April 13, 1815, in New Jersey to Samuel Springer and Sarah Chester. His father was a farmer who owned $1,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property by 1860. He married Eliza Ludlam in Cape May County, New Jersey, on January 8, 1837, and they had at least ten children: Francis, born around 1839; John, born around 1844; Reuben, born around 1846; Charles, born around 1848; Joseph, born around 1851; Alexander, born around 1853; James, born around 1855; Mary, born around 1857; Lewis, born around 1859; and Samuel, born around 1861.
They lived in Middle, New Jersey, until the 1840s, when they moved to Dennis, New Jersey. Springer worked as a merchant, and by 1850, he owned $1,500 of real estate. A decade later, he was working as a farmer, and he owned $2,500 of real estate and $500 of personal property. By 1870, his wealth had grown to $3,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. His wife died in 1879, and he passed away in New Jersey on June 20, 1892.