Thomas Hart Benton (5 September 1815 – 10 April 1879) was an American politician. Born on 5 September 1815 in

Williamson County, Tennessee Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 247,726. The county seat is Franklin, and the county is located in Middle Tennessee. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, ...

, Thomas Hart Benton was named after his uncle, who served in the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

, and represented Missouri on the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. The younger T. H. Benton attended Huntington Academy and Marion College in Missouri. In 1839, Benton moved to

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

, and found work as a teacher. After ending his teaching career, he became a merchant. Politically, Benton was affiliated with the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He was elected to the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

from

District 17 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, and served as a member of the First Iowa General Assembly from 30 November 1846 to 3 December 1848. He stepped down from the state senate to serve six years as Iowa's first Superintendent of Public Instruction. At the time, that office was held concurrently with the position of secretary of the

Iowa Board of Regents The Board of Regents, State of Iowa (commonly referred to as the Iowa Board of Regents) is the 9-member governing body overseeing the three public universities in the state of Iowa: the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University ...

. Later, Benton moved to

Council Bluffs Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area. It is lo ...

. As the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

broke out, Governor

Samuel J. Kirkwood Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (December 20, 1813 – September 1, 1894) was an American politician who twice served as governor of Iowa, twice as a U.S. Senator from Iowa, and as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Early life and career Samuel Jordan ...

granted Benton the military rank of colonel and tasked him with organizing the 29th Iowa Infantry Regiment. Following the

Battle of Bayou Fourche The Battle of Bayou Fourche, also known as the Battle of Little Rock and the Engagement at Bayou Fourche, took place on September 10, 1863, in Pulaski County, Arkansas, and was the final battle of the Little Rock campaign, Little Rock Campaign, ...

, the 29th Iowa, under Benton's command, protected the home of Confederate general

Albert Pike Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate general who served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in exile from 1864 to 1865. He had previously se ...

. Benton completed this task because both he and Pike were Freemasons. Benton was elevated to the rank of brevet brigadier-general and returned to Iowa after the war ended. Benton contested the 1865 Iowa gubernatorial election as a Democratic candidate opposed to African-American suffrage, and lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent

William M. Stone William Milo Stone (October 14, 1827 – July 18, 1893) was the sixth Governor of Iowa (1864–68). Early life and education Stone was born in Jefferson County, New York, and moved with his family to Coshocton, Ohio in 1834. He read law there ...

. After

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

assumed the presidency following the

assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was assassinated by well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, while attending the play ''Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the hea ...

, the Republican Assessor of Internal Revenue was removed from office, and Benton took on the position. Benton died in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, on 10 April 1879.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Thomas Hart People of Iowa in the American Civil War Union Army generals People from Williamson County, Tennessee American Freemasons Andrew Johnson administration personnel Politicians from Council Bluffs, Iowa 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American educators Iowa Superintendents of Public Instruction 1815 births Politicians from Dubuque, Iowa Democratic Party Iowa state senators 1879 deaths