When Benjamin Franklin Applegate was born on 25 April 1774, in Berkeley, Virginia, United States, his father, Jacob Henry Applegate, was 20 and his mother, Mary Prudence Wallingford, was 16. He married Hannah Peters in 1794, in Fleming, Kentucky, United States. They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 5 daughters. He lived in Lewis, Kentucky, United States for about 10 years. He died on 10 September 1862, in Tollesboro, Lewis, Kentucky, United States, at the age of 88, and was buried in Fearisville, Lewis, Kentucky, United States.