Benjamin Dawson Heath was the founding president of Charlotte National Bank. The bank was chartered in 1897. The Charlotte National Bank later merged with Wachovia Bank and Trust Company of Winston-Salem. B.D. Heath was active in local civic and business affairs. In addition to his association with the bank, Heath was a major real estate developer and land owner.

He was active in the Methodist (now United Methodist) Church. He served on the Western North Carolina Methodist Conference committte that organized Hawthorne Lane Methodist church in Charlotte. In 1914, Heath donated the land on which the church is built.

B.D. Heath died July 18, 1919, at the age of seventy. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Charlotte.