Robert Ridley Hodnett was born on July 25, 1846, in Georgia to William Collier Hodnett and Caroline Finley. His father was a farmer who owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property in 1860. During the Civil War, Hodnett worked as an overseer and served in the 1st Georgia Reserves. He married a woman named Amanda, and they had at least four children: Caroline, born around 1871; Mary, born around 1873; Elisa, born around 1879; and Everett, born around 1882. Amanda died in the late 1800s, and by 1900, Hodnett was living with his daughter Caroline in Ouachita County, Arkansas. He remained in Ouachita County for the rest of his life, and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage there on March 20, 1939.