Guy Kershner was born in 1880 in West New Portland, Maine on a farm, where he learned to drive horses and oxen. He worked running a lathe at a pick mill in 1899 and then worked as a teamster at a camp on Mount Abrams. From 1901 to 1903, he drove teams at Mount Bigelow. He continued to drive teams for local people in various locations until 1912. He had at least one daughter.