Benjamin Dean (August 14, 1824 – April 9, 1897) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Early life

Born in

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, fifth child of Alice Lofthouse and Benjamin Dean, he moved with his family to America at the age of five, and grew up in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

. He attended Lowell schools and

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar, and founded the Lowell firm of Dean & Dinsmoor, Attorneys. Dean continued his practice after moving to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1852.

Public service

Dean served in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

and on the Common Council of the City of Boston. Dean was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

45th United States Congress The 45th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1877, ...

, serving from 1878 to 1879. Dean was not a candidate for reëlection in 1878. Thereafter he resumed his law practice in Boston, and was chairman of the board of parks commissioners in his later years.

Personal life

Dean was married to Mary Anne French, daughter of Lowell Mayor Josiah Bowers French and a descendant of the

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

and Mather families of

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its ...

. They had six children, including marine artist Walter Lofthouse Dean and Judge Josiah Stevens Dean. A 33-degree Mason, he served as grand master of the Grand Commandery of the United States from 1880 to 1883; and attended the Tricentennial Conclave in San Francisco in 1883 with his wife and youngest daughter, Mary. He was a member of the Boston Yacht Club and owned

Outer Brewster Island Outer Brewster Island, also known as Outward Island, is one of the outer islands in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and is situated some 10 miles offshore of downtown Boston. The island has a permanent size of 20 acres, and consi ...

. Dean died in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...

on April 9, 1897 and is buried at Lowell Cemetery.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Benjamin 1824 births 1897 deaths People from Clitheroe Massachusetts lawyers Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators British emigrants to the United States Politicians from Lowell, Massachusetts Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers

Early life

Public service

Personal life

See also

External links