Francis W. “Frank” Haben was born to John and Calista A. Haben (née Oliver) in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan, on May 1, 1870. By the 1890s, he was living in the newly founded village of Hibbing, St. Louis County, Minnesota. In 1896, he married fellow Michigan native Catherine Brady (1872-1941)—in what may have been the first public wedding to take place in Hibbing. They raised three children: Cecilia Mary Haben (1904-1934), Wendell Haben (1915-1971), and Eugene M. Haben (1916-1945).