Berry Greenwood Benson (February 9, 1843–January 1, 1923) was born in Hamburg, South Carolina, the son of Abraham Madison Benson (1818–1860) and Nancy Harmon (1814–1857). His father spent several years in California during the California Gold Rush of 1849 before returning to South Carolina.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Benson and his brother Blackwood joined the Hamburg Minutemen and were mustered into the First South Carolina Volunteer Regiment in Charleston. After an initial six-month enlistment, Benson reenlisted for the duration of the war. At age eighteen he was appointed corporal of Company H. Serving under A. P. Hill in the Light Division, he participated in the Seven Days Battles, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and other major engagements. He was wounded, captured, and later escaped Union imprisonment before returning to service.

Following the war, Benson briefly lived in Texas before settling in Augusta, Georgia, where he worked as an accountant and cotton broker. The Ladies’ Memorial Association of Augusta selected him as the model for the anonymous enlisted soldier atop the Confederate Monument erected on Broad Street in 1878. That same year, he served as an officer in the Confederate Survivors Association.

Ida Jeanie Benson (1869–1949) was an accomplished concert violinist and music teacher from Augusta. After graduating from Tubman High School, she moved to New York to study violin for seven years before returning home to teach and share her musical talents. She never married, spent much of her adult life caring for her father, Sgt. Berry Greenwood Benson, at their North Augusta home, and is buried alongside her family in Sunset Hill Cemetery.

Charles Greenwood Benson (1877–1954) was an American civil engineer for the U.S. Reclamation Service who worked on vital infrastructure projects across the country. He was the son of Sgt. Berry Greenwood Benson, a legendary Civil War Confederate scout and progressive labor advocate whose likeness stands atop the Augusta Confederate Monument. Charles grew up in Georgia, later lived in Nevada and Florida for his engineering career, and is buried in Athens, Georgia.

Arthur Benson (1870–1933) was a prominent Augusta businessman who spent nearly 50 years as the head teller for the Georgia Railroad Bank. As the son of Civil War scout Sgt. Berry Greenwood Benson, he grew up in the historic North Augusta area and became highly respected in local financial circles. He never married, lived his entire adult life on Georgia Avenue, and was buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery after passing away suddenly at age 63.