Benjamin Wesley Kilgore was born on March 27, 1867, in Lafayette County, Mississippi. Kilgore served as state chemist (1899-1919), director of the state agricultural experiment state (1901-1907 & 1912-1925), director of the state agricultural extension service (1914-1925), and dean of agriculture for North Carolina State University (1923-1925), among many other positions. He died in Raleigh on December 27, 1943.