David Spahr was born on December 4, 1788, in Pennsylvania to Philip and Dorothea Spahr. He was baptized in Dover, Pennsylvania, on January 1, 1789. He married Mary Heilman on June 2, 1811, and they had at least three children, including John, who was born around 1816. They lived in North Middleton, Pennsylvania, and Spahr worked as a blacksmith. By 1850, he owned $2,000 of real estate. A decade later, he was working as a farmer in Middlesex, Pennsylvania, and he owned $3,000 of real estate and $400 of personal property. He died on March 7, 1868.