Benjamin Maurice Gaskill was born in Philadelphia on August 6, 1845, the son of Edward Gaskill and Mary Matilda Bywater.
Gaskill enrolled in 1861 as a member of the College Class of 1865, but left the University at the end of freshman year. He was a member of the Delta Psi fraternity.
After his time at Penn he became a publisher and married Emeline Hasletine Whiteman. He remained alive as of 1922 when he appeared in the Alumni Catalogue as living at 13th and Spruce Streets in Philadelphia.