When Charles Alfred Ernst was born on 14 October 1887, in Hailey, Blaine, Idaho, United States, his father, John Fountain Ernst, was 18 and his mother, Geneva Sharps Hendricks, was 17. He married Frances Cooper on 1 July 1911, in Challis, Custer, Idaho, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Lemhi, Idaho, United States in 1930. He died on 21 March 1945, in Salmon, Lemhi, Idaho, United States, at the age of 57.