Benjamin Elias Cabell was born November 18, 1858, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the oldest of eight children - of which 5 survived infancy - to the then future C.S.

Army Brigadier General William Lewis Cabell and Harriet Amanda Rector.

In December 1872, he and his brothers and sisters were moved by his parents from Arkansas to Texas where the family would maintain their roots for the remainder of the 19th and through the 20th centuries.

While mayor he oversaw the construction of Bachman Lake dam as part of the city water system.

[1] On February 8, 1931, Ben E. Cabell died at Fort Sam Houston, Bexar County, Texas.