Jasper Peck Sears was born in West Bloomfield, New York to a family that can trace its roots back to Plymouth Colony. Both of his parents died by the time Jasper was 21 years old, and immediately afterwards he headed west.  He setled in Marion, Ohio, where he was married to Lydia Holmes.  They stayed there for about a decade.

In the late 1840s He and his wife and four children set off for Janesville, Wisconsin, where they set up a brewery/grocery store on the west side of Rock Creek.  It was one of the first such firms in Janesville.  He ran the brewing operation of the business for an unknown amount of time then headed out even further west to Denver.  Sears died there on August 27th, 1881 at the age of 74 years.