Timothy Dwight Root was born around 1846 in Ohio to Timothy and Adeline Root. His father was a farmer who owned $4,500 of real estate and $2,050 of personal property by 1860. Root grew up and attended school in Austinburg, Ohio. He enlisted in the Union army on February 8, 1864, and he mustered in as a private in the 14th Ohio Light Artillery later that day. The regiment took part in the Atlanta campaign, and he mustered out on August 9, 1865. He returned to Ohio after the war, and he died on March 31, 1871.