Benjamin Sasser was born around 1859 in North Carolina. Sasser was a farmer who resided in Craven County, North Carolina. Sasser was charged with larceny on April 13, 1878, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Sasser was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2655. In the descriptive register, Sasser's race is noted as Black. Sasser was nineteen years old when he was arrested. Sasser was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Sasser was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on February 24, 1880.