Aaron Snowden Piggot was born on March 3, 1822, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He was a physician, dentist, chemist, and professor. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Maryland in 1844. He practiced medicine and was Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in Washington University, Baltimore (1848-1851) and at Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (1858-1861). In the 1850s, he was an analytical chemist and a mining consultant. Piggot was co-editor of the American Journal of Dental Science (1856, 1867–1869) and Professor of Chemistry at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery (1865–1869). In 1867, he was a co-founder of the Maryland Metalic and Mining Company. He was a member of the Linnaean Society of Pennsylvania College, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Odontological Society of London, the Boston Society of Natural History, and the American Medical Association. A prolific writer, he contributed to the Southern Quarterly Review, the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Harper's Monthly, the Knickerbocker Magazine, and the Southern Literary Messenger. He was the author of "Piggot's Dental Chemistry" (1854) and "Art of Mining and Preparing Ores" (1858).

In 1845, he married Margaret Moore (1826–1889). He died on February 13, 1869, in Louisa County, Virginia.