Benjamin Arnold was born in Perquimans County, North Carolina on April 27, 1746. He relocated to Wayne County, North Carolina sometime after 1768. There, as a Quaker, he signed a 1780 petition from the Wayne County Quakers to the North Carolina General Assembly asking the Assembly to reconsider the amount of taxes levied on the Quakers. Arnold died in Wayne County on June 9, 1802.