Benjamin Cole was born in 1902 in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine to Franki and Marie (Davis) Cole. He was the youngest of seven. He worked in the woods summers until he graduated from high school, at which point he started to do it in the winter too. He worked at a number of different locations including, Pleasant River, Schoodic Mountain, Piscatiquis River, and the West Branch of the Penobscot River. He also worked on the log drives. In 1942, he began to work for the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, firing the engines for a few years and then as an engineer, until his retirement in 1967. He was married twice and had three children with his first wife, He also spent a bit of time as a Maine guide after retirement.