Van Swearengen Bennett (March 15, 1836August 24, 1914) was an American lumberman, Republican politician, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate (1882 & 1883) and

State Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

(1869 & 1870), representing Vernon County. He also served as a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

officer during 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 ...

Early life

Van S. Bennett was born in

Medina, Ohio Medina ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,094 at the 2020 Census. It lies about 33 miles (53 km) south of Cleveland and 23 miles (37 km) west of Akron within the Clevelan ...

, in March 1836. He received his early education there before moving with his parents to the Wisconsin Territory in 1846. They settled in the town of

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

, in Dane County, where Bennett completed his education. The family moved again, to Jefferson County in 1852. In the Fall of 1853, the seventeen year old Bennett walked across the state of Wisconsin, from Jefferson County to

La Crosse La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...

, where he purchased a section of government land to establish a homestead in

Vernon County, Wisconsin Vernon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,714. Its county seat is Viroqua. History Vernon County was renamed from Bad Ax County on March 22, 1862. Bad Ax County had been created on ...

. The following year, he worked in the town of

Kickapoo, Wisconsin Kickapoo is a town in Vernon County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 566 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Kickapoo Center and Sugar Grove are located in the town. Geography According to the United States Census ...

, assisting in the erection of the first saw mill in that town. In 1855, his family took up his homestead in Vernon County, and Bennett went to Richland County to work in the lumber camps.

Civil War service

At the outbreak of the

, Bennett enlisted with a company of volunteers for service in the

. They were enrolled as Company I in the

12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment The 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 12th Wisconsin was raised at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service October 18, 1861. The regim ...

, and he was elected first lieutenant of the company while it was being organized. The regiment left the state in January 1862 and was sent south down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

to Kentucky. That spring, the captain of Company I, Hartwell Turner, resigned, and Bennett was promoted to replace him. He served the rest of his enlistment as captain of the company. With the 12th Wisconsin Infantry, Bennett participated in many of the important campaigns of the western theater of the war, including

Vicksburg Vicksburg most commonly refers to: * Vicksburg, Mississippi, a city in western Mississippi, United States * The Vicksburg Campaign, an American Civil War campaign * The Siege of Vicksburg, an American Civil War battle Vicksburg is also the name of ...

, the

Meridian expedition The Meridian campaign or Meridian expedition took place from February 3 – March 6, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, Mississippi, by the Union Army of the Tennessee, led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman captured Mer ...

, and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. His three-year enlistment expired in November 1864, and he returned to Wisconsin.

Political and business career

On his return to Wisconsin, Bennett first returned to Richland County, where he had previously worked in the lumber industry. There he was elected superintendent of county schools in 1865, but the following year he left the county to take up his land in Vernon County, where he set about establishing a village on a part of his property. He purchased a grist mill in 1866, constructed the first saw mill in the area in 1867, and built a school house in 1869 which he donated to the town government. He finally laid out an official plat of the settlement in 1873, which became the community of Rockton, Wisconsin. A post office was established there in 1871, and Bennett was the second postmaster at Rockton. He became affiliated with the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and, in 1868, he was their nominee for

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

in Vernon County's eastern Assembly district. He was elected without opposition in 1868 and again in 1869. He did not run for a third term in 1870. In 1879, he purchased a stock of general goods in order to open a general store in Rockton. By the 1880s, Bennett was the largest landowner in Vernon County, owning about 2,300 acres. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1881, representing Crawford and Vernon counties. He served in the

1882 Events January–March * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in ...

and

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

sessions. Bennett remained active in state and county affairs into his later years. Serving several more times on the county board of supervisors and the town board, and serving as a trustee for the state asylum in Vernon County. Bennett died after suffering a severe kick from his horse on the morning of August 23, 1914. He died a day later at his home in Rockton.

Personal life and family

Van S. Bennett was the eldest of five children born to Jacob V. Bennett and his wife Eliza (' Groshong). Van's younger brother, William H. Bennett, also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and died as a prisoner of war in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

, in 1864. Van S. Bennett married Jennie Loveless in 1858. They had one daughter. His wife died in 1898 and he subsequently married Sara Emiline Marshall, who survived him. Aside from his business and political interests, Bennett was active in

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and was a high officer in the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd ...

Electoral history

Richland County Superintendent of Schools (1865)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1865

Wisconsin Assembly (1868, 1869)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 1868 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1869

Wisconsin Senate (1881)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 1869

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Van 1836 births 1914 deaths People from Medina, Ohio People from Vernon County, Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Union Army officers Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Military personnel from Wisconsin