Benjamin Legrand was the eldest son of William and Helen Legrand. In 1851 Benjamin visited his father after he had gone to a dentist to have a tooth extracted. He was well pleased that Bill had not felt a thing during the actual extraction due to the wonders of chloroform. However, he expressed curiosity over the source of the transplanted tooth. He had had cause to discuss such matters with his particular friend Dr. Ernest Valdemar who had informed him that dentists normally received such ivory from "harvesters" who stole them from local graves by the light of the moon.