Allen D. Beemer was born near Scranton, Pennsylvania, on December 19, 1842. He was a Civil War veteran of the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry who, after the war, operated a hotel in Franklin, Pennsylvania, and a livery stable in Pennsylvania. In 1869, he moved to West Point, Nebraska, the county seat of Cuming County. There, he engaged in the hotel business and in the buying and selling of grain and livestock. He held political offices in West Point and was sheriff of Cuming County from 1880 to 1884.