Alfred W. Benson

Alfred W. Benson

Alfred Washburn Benson (born July 15, 1843 in Chautauqua County , New York , † January 1, 1916 in Topeka , Kansas ) was an American lawyer and politician and US Senator for the state of Kansas.

Life

Childhood and youth

Alfred Benson was born in New York State, one of five children of Peleg Benson and his wife Hannah Washburn - who had British ancestors - and grew up on a farm that his parents ran. He attended elementary school in Chautauqua County. In 1860, at the age of 17, he moved to Jamestown , where he studied social science both here and at Randolph . He then worked briefly, between 1861 and 1862, as a teacher in a school in Warren County ( Pennsylvania ).

Military career

In the early summer of 1862, Benson volunteered for the Army in Randolph and then fought as a soldier in the 104th New York Regiment in the Civil War . With a unit that consisted mostly of recruited university students, he was initially used in the north of the US state of Virginia . He was also a soldier in the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862 . In the spring of 1863 he moved with his unit to Chancellorsville , where he was almost killed on May 2, 1863 in the battle of the same name by a shot in the left lung. Briefly got Benson in captivity of the Confederate Army , but he was erstversorgt by a great act of humanity from these and then sent back to his unit. At the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Military Hospital , Benson recovered from his injuries and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant by his superiors . When, in October 1863 with his unit in Bridgeport ( Alabama was stationed), Benson was in the rank of adjutant charged. Over the next two years, Benson fought in numerous other battles alongside General William T. Sherman . From Chattanooga ( Tennessee ) to Atlanta and Savannah in Georgia to Raleigh ( North Carolina ) Benson came this way. In September 1864 he was promoted to captain and in April 1865 to major . A month later, in May 1865, Benson was a participant in the Victory Parade in Washington, DC

Political career

After studying law before the war , Benson continued this while working for the Cook & Lockwood law firm in Jamestown. In November 1866, he was admitted to the New York State Bar Association in Buffalo . In January 1867 he founded his own law firm in Sherman with Chautauqua County District Judge AA Van Dusen .

In 1869, Benson became a member of the Board of County Supervisors, and that same year moved from New York to Ottawa, Kansas. In the years to come, Benson held a number of high offices. From 1878 to 1879 he was briefly mayor of Ottawa before he stood for the successful election of a Senator from Kansas in 1880 . He held his mandate until 1885. One of his best-known reforms was one of the first laws that introduced prohibition in Kansas. In 1885, Benson became a judge on the 4th Jurisdiction Court, and served in that office for 12 years until 1897. He then withdrew temporarily into private life and served as a lawyer again.

In the fall of 1904, Benson successfully ran for a seat in the Kansas House of Representatives , and served until June 11, 1906. At that time, Kansas' Governor Edward W. Hoch approached Benson, and appointed him after Joseph R's resignation Burton , succeeding him in the United States Senate . Benson, who was a member of the Republican Party , took office on June 11, 1906, and served until January 23, 1907. In the by-election , which took place in the fall of 1906, he already failed in the primary elections.

Next life

After his brief career as a US Senator, Governor Hoch approached Benson again and appointed him an associate judge at the Kansas Supreme Court in early August 1907 . In 1908 he was confirmed in office in an election by the citizens and began a six-year term that did not end until 1914. After that, Benson finally withdrew into private life.

Benson most recently made a name for himself as a lecturer at the University of Kansas and Washburn University . (Note: the latter does not have his middle name.)

He died on New Year's Day 1916, at the age of 72.

Private life

Benson was married and had a daughter with his wife, Unettie L. Towsley.

Since 1867 he belonged to a Masonic lodge .

Web links

• Alfred W. Benson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)