Benjamin Stanton | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio | |
| In office March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853 | |
| Preceded by | Moses Bledso Corwin |
| Succeeded by | Matthias H. Nichols |
| Constituency | 4th district |
| In office March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861 | |
| Preceded by | Moses Bledso Corwin |
| Succeeded by | Samuel Shellabarger |
| Constituency | 8th district |
| 6th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio | |
| In office January 13, 1862 – January 11, 1864 | |
| Governor | David Tod |
| Preceded by | Robert C. Kirk |
| Succeeded by | Charles Anderson |
| Member of theOhio Senate from theChampaign,Logan andUnion Counties district | |
| In office December 6, 1841 – December 3, 1843 | |
| Preceded by | Dowty Utter |
| Succeeded by | John Gabriel, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1809-06-04)June 4, 1809 |
| Died | June 2, 1872(1872-06-02) (aged 62) |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery |
| Party | Whig,Opposition,Republican |
Benjamin Stanton (June 4, 1809 – June 2, 1872) was an American politician who served as the sixthlieutenant governor of Ohio from 1862 to 1864.
The son of Elias & Martha (Wilson) Stanton, he was born inMount Pleasant, Ohio, Stanton pursued academic studies, and learned thetailor's trade. Stanton studied law and wasadmitted to the bar in 1834, and began practicing law inBellefontaine, Ohio.
Stanton served as a member of theOhio Senate from 1841 to 1843, and as delegate to the stateconstitutional convention in 1850.
Stanton was elected as aU.S. Representative fromOhio twice. He served as aWhig to theThirty-second Congress, from 1851 to 1853.
From 1855 to 1861, he served as anOpposition Party candidate to theThirty-fourth Congress and reelected as aRepublican to theThirty-fifth andThirty-sixth Congresses. Stanton served as chairman of theCommittee on Military Affairs (Thirty-sixth Congress).
Stanton served aslieutenant governor of Ohio in 1862, during theAmerican Civil War. After thebattle of Shiloh, in April 1862, atPittsburg Landing, Tennessee, Stanton visited theUnion Army and soon published a statement critical of the Union generals. He opined thatUlysses S. Grant andBenjamin M. Prentiss, both appointed fromIllinois, should becourt-martialed and shot. GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman, appointed from Ohio, published a sharp rebuttal. This led to Stanton's criticizing Sherman as well. In his memoirs, Sherman claimed that after "the good people of the North ha(d) begun to have their eyes opened" (referring perhaps to his own rebuttals of Stanton) Stanton's criticisms of Grant were so soundly rejected that Stanton never again held any public office and that he was commonly spoken of as "the late Mr. Stanton".[1] Stanton's move from Ohio to West Virginia would seem to support that statement.
Stanton moved toMartinsburg, West Virginia, in 1865, and practiced law. He moved toWheeling, West Virginia, in 1867 and continued the practice of law.
Stanton died in Wheeling on June 2, 1872, two days before his sixty-third birthday, and was interred inGreenwood Cemetery in Wheeling, West Virginia.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 4th congressional district 1851-1853 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 8th congressional district 1855-1861 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Ohio 1862-1864 | Succeeded by |
Chairs of theUnited States House Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1822–1947) |  | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1822–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee* (from 1947) | ||
*Alternately namedNational Security in 104th and 105th Congresses. | ||
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