Benjamin Louis Garr was born on August 27, 1820 to parents Jacob and Susanna Garr in Madison County, Virginia. He was the fourth of seven sons in his family. It is unknown exactly when the family moved to Kentucky, but it was sometime between 1828 and 1832, as sons James Osbourn was born in Virginia in 1828 and Horace Stringfellow was born in Kentucky in 1832. The family settled in Jefferson County, and this would have been were Benjamin spent the latter part of his childhood. Before he married, Benjamin led an adventurous life. He served in the Mexican War, and after that conflict was over, went to California for two years to try his hand in the gold rush. Like so many others who rushed to California during that time, Benjamin does not seem to have made any great fortune. After his search for fortune played out, he returned to Louisville. In 1854, he inherited the house his father Jacob had built. Two years later, on June 3, 1856 in Spencer County, Kentucky, he married Kazia Russell. They settled on this inherited land, situated along modern-day Hurstbourne Lane, and it was there that they raised their four children: Elizabeth Virginia, Charles Russell, Mary Margaret "Mollie," and Nathaniel Lee Garr.
They were living on the family farm when the Civil War started, which led to confrontations for the family, as Benjamin was an ardent Southern sympathsizer. Charles Russell Garr in his autobiography attributes his father's support for the South to an indicident with a Union soldier involved a carriage and horses. The story goes that Benjamin and his wife Kazia were returning home from a trip to the doctor, as Kazia was ill. On their way they were met by a Union man who stopped the couple and took their buggy and horse for himself, forcing both of them, the sick Kazia included, to walk home. Whatever the reasons for his Southern support, we do know that it caused him some trouble during the war. Louisville was the center of Union activity in Kentucky, and was where the unpopular General Burbridge was stationed while the state was under military control. This meant that Southern supporters living near Louisville, such as Benjamin, were frequently in close contact Union soldiers. At one point, there was attempt to draft men into service to protect the city, and Benjamin claimed he would "rather die" than fight in the Union army, according to his son. It took his father-in-law, Nathaniel Russell, who was a Union supporter going to a Union colonel and getting the promise that he would not be disturbed that kept him from fleeing the area.
After the Civil War was over, the family remained in the Louisville area, but that was the end of the troubles in their life. At an unknown date, their house caught on fire and was partially burned. They were able to rebuild, but it drove the family into more debt than expected. Between this debt and the economic uncertainty that came after the war, Benjamin ended up in a poor financial position. Though he worked hard to repay his debts, the family was ultimately forced to sell the farm and move to the city, living in a home on Maple Street. Benjamin seems to have remained in Louisville for the rest of his life, except for a point when he and his son Charles Russell Garr decided to go out West to try and make a living for Charles as a doctor in a mining camp in Colorado. This adventure, unlike his time in California, was short lived, as finding conditions in the camp not to be what they expected, the pair returned home in a matter of weeks. Benjamin died on October 27, 1897. He is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.
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