Maecenas E. Benton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) From Volume 1 of 1899'sAutobiographies and Portraits of the President, Cabinet, Supreme Court, and Fifty-fifth Congress | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's15th district | |
| In office March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Germman Burton |
| Succeeded by | Cassius M. Shartel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Maecenas Eason Benton (1848-01-29)January 29, 1848 Dyersburg, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | April 27, 1924(1924-04-27) (aged 76) Springfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Resting place | Odd Fellows Cemetery,Neosho, Missouri |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Children | 4, includingThomas |
| Relatives | Thomas Hart Benton (uncle) |
| Alma mater | Saint Louis University |
| Occupation |
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| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Confederate States |
| Branch/service | Confederate States Army |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Maecenas Eason Benton (January 29, 1848 – April 27, 1924) was aU.S. Representative fromMissouri. He was the father ofThomas Hart Benton, who gained fame as a painter of theAmerican Scene. His uncle wasThomas Hart Benton, one of the first twoUnited States Senators elected from Missouri.[1]
Born nearDyersburg, Tennessee, Benton attended two west Tennessee academies andSaint Louis University. He was graduated from theCumberland School of Law atCumberland University,Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1870. He served in theConfederate States Army during theCivil War. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice inNeosho, Missouri. He served as prosecuting attorney of Newton County, Missouri, from 1878 to 1884 and subsequently the United States attorney from March 1885 to July 1889. He also served as delegate to the1896 Democratic National Convention. On June 24, 1888 he married Elizabeth Wise ofWaxahachie, Texas.
Benton was elected as aDemocrat to the55th,56th,57th, and58th congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1905).[2] An unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1904 to the59th Congress, he resumed his law practice inNeosho, Missouri, and served as member of the State constitutional conventions in 1922 and 1924. He died inSpringfield, Missouri, April 27, 1924 of throat cancer and was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Neosho, Missouri. He is pictured in the 1939 Neosho centennial mural, in Neosho, Missouri, byJames Duard Marshall.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMissouri's 15th congressional district 1897–1905 | Succeeded by |
