Born on October 19, 1798, in New Haven, Connecticut,[1] Ingersoll read law to be admitted to the bar, and received an Artium Magister degree from Yale University in 1827.

[1] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 8, 1853, and received his commission the same day.

His father was a judge of the Supreme Court and Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut up until his death in 1823.

[11] Among his siblings was older brother Ralph Isaacs Ingersoll, who served as a United States representative from Connecticut for four consecutive terms from 1825 to 1833, and was the United States Minister to the Russian Empire under President James K.

[12] Ingersoll's maternal grandfather, and his brother's namesake, was Ralph Isaacs Jr., a Yale educated merchant who was prominent in New Haven and Branford, and his paternal grandfather was Reverend Jonathan Ingersoll,[11] chaplain for the Connecticut Troops during the French and Indian War who was the brother of Jared Ingersoll Sr., a British colonial official.