Ben Hanford
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Benjamin Hanford (1861 – January 24, 1910) was an American
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
politician during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A printer by trade, Hanford is best remembered for his
1904 Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * ...
and
1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...
runs for
Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
on the ticket of the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
, running next to Presidential nominee
Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...
. Hanford was also the creator of the fictional character "Jimmie Higgins," a prototypical Socialist rank-and-filer whose silent work on the unglamorous tasks needed by any political organization made the group's achievements possible — a character later reprised in a novel by
Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...
.


Biography


Early life

Benjamin Hanford was born in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
in 1861, the son of George Byington Hanford and Susan Elizabeth Martin Hanford. Ben's mother died when he was in infancy.Joshua Wanhope, "Biographical Sketch of Ben Hanford," in Ben Hanford, ''Fight For Your Life! Recording Some Activities of a Labor Agitator.'' New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1909; pg. 3. Hanford's father later married Frances Jane Thompson, a woman from
Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...
who as Hanford's step-mother imparted a taste for scholarship and culture upon him. As a boy, Hanford worked for a newspaper, learning the printer's trade at the ''Marshalltown Republican'' of
Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...
. With his 18th birthday approaching, Hanford left
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
for the great regional metropolis of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, where on February 26, 1879, he became a member of the Chicago Typographical Union, a local affiliate of the
International Typographical Union The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a US trade union for the printing trade for newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union, and changed its name to the Interna ...
.Wanhope, "Biographical Sketch of Ben Hanford," pg. 4. Hanford would remain a dues-paying member of that organization for the rest of his life. In 1892, Hanford relocated to New York City."Our Candidates: Ben Hanford," ''Appeal to Reason,'' whole no. 443 (May 28, 1904), pg. 2. There he worked as a printer and became involved in the affairs of International Typographical Union Local No. 6 — known as "Big Six" in that era.


Political career

In 1893, a fellow printer from
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
named Fred Long converted his fellow union member to the ideas of
socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
. Hanford joined the dominant American socialist political organization of the day, the
Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...
(SLP). Hanford was selected to head the New York state ticket of the SLP in 1898, running for
Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
. In 1899, the SLP split, and Hanford left the organization with an anti- dual union faction led by
Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqui ...
and
Henry Slobodin Henry L. Slobodin was an American attorney, socialist activist and frequent candidate for public office from New York. Slobodin was active in the Socialist Labor Party of America before leaving in 1899 alongside other socialist activists like M ...
and centered around the ''
New Yorker Volkszeitung ''New Yorker Volkszeitung'' was the longest-running German language daily labor newspaper in the United States of America, established in 1878 and suspending publication in October 1932. At the time of its demise during the Great Depression the ' ...
.'' Hanford was nominated again in 1900 as New York gubernatorial candidate and as 1901 candidate for Mayor of New York by this breakaway political group, which named itself the "Social Democratic Party" after losing a lawsuit over use of the name and emblem of the SLP filed by the majority loyal to party leaders
Daniel DeLeon Daniel De Leon (; December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914), alternatively spelt Daniel de León, was a Curaçaoan-American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician, and trade union organizer. He is regarded as the forefather ...
and
Henry Kuhn Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
. In August 1901, the eastern "Social Democratic Party" of Hillquit, Slobodin, and Hanford merged with the Chicago-based
Social Democratic Party of America The Social Democratic Party of America (SDP) was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America (SDA) and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party of ...
headed by
Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...
and
Victor L. Berger Victor Luitpold Berger (February 28, 1860August 7, 1929) was an Austrian–American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. Born in ...
to form the
Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
(SPA), of which Hanford became a charter member. Hanford was tapped the New York ticket of the SPA in the November 1902, running for Governor of New York for a third time. Hanford was regarded as an effective orator who possessed both "a burning earnestness" and "an ability to clothe his thoughts and feelings into the simplest and most direct language." This reputation, combined with his previous experience running for high office in New York state, made Hanford a majority choice among Socialist Party convention delegates to be the party's Vice-Presidential nominee in the 1904 and 1908 United States presidential elections. In addition to his efforts as a labor organizer and socialist orator and political candidate, Hanford was an effective pamphleteer, winning praise for his 1901 tract, ''Railroading in the United States,'' and making a lasting mark on the literature of American socialism with his short story "Jimmie Higgins," lauding the silent efforts of a prototypical Socialist rank-and-file member to complete the mundane tasks that made an effective political movement possible. This character, reckoned by one commentator as "a veritable apotheosis of the faithful worker in the ranks,""Ben Hanford Dies; Party Mourns Him: Sturdy Leader of "Big Six" Succumbs After a Brave Fight," ''Chicago Daily Socialist,'' vol. 4, no. 78 (Jan. 26, 1910), pp. 1-2. was reprised after Hanford's death in a novel by the same title by
Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in seve ...
.


Death and legacy

Following the close of the 1908 Socialist Party National Convention, at which he was nominated for vice president for a second time, Hanford was stricken by "a virulent stomach trouble." The chronic condition proved incapacitating, forcing Hanford off the campaign trail and limiting his contributions to the written word. Hanford rallied for a time following the close of the campaign, spending time and effort attempting to raise funds for the '' New York Call,'' socialist daily newspaper in New York City. On November 22, 1908, the committed 48-year-old bachelor Hanford married Alice Miriam Burnham, a fellow Socialist from New York City."Socialist News Review: Ben Hanford Married," ''St. Louis Labor,'' vol. 6, whole no. 412 (Dec. 26, 1908), pg. 8.; Women's Who's Who of America, A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915, edited by John W. Leonard (New York: The American Commonwealth Company, 1914), pg. 559. The couple made their home in the Flatbush section of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Unfortunately, Hanford's health again began to decline, taking what would ultimately prove to be its terminal turn. In 1909, with Hanford bedridden, a retrospective in his honor entitled ''Fight for Your Life!: Recording Some Activities of a Labor Agitator'' was unveiled by the Wilshire Book Company of New York, publishing house run by ''Wilshire's Magazine'' editor Gaylord Wilshire. Hanford's demise proved to be slow and painful, with his friend John C. Chase noting that he was confined to bed "for weeks and sometimes for months" in an "agony such as few men have to endure," while his body wasted from "the ravages of long continued illness."John C. Chase, quoted in "Ben Hanford Dies; Party Mourns Him," ''Chicago Daily Socialist,'' Jan. 26, 1910, pg. 2. Ben Hanford died at his home in Brooklyn, New York at noon on Monday, January 24, 1910, with his wife and party comrades by his bedside. His last hours were said to have been "peaceful and free of pain."


Footnotes


Works

* ''McKinley, Bryan or Debs?'' New York: G. Speyer, 1900. * ''Railroading in the United States.'' New York: Socialistic Cooperative Publishing Association, 1901. * ''Hanford's Reply to Havemeyer: Patriotism and Socialism.'' New York: Comrade Cooperative, 1903.
''What Workingmen's Votes Can Do.''
Chicago: National Committee of the Socialist Party, 1904.
''The Labor War in Colorado.''
New York: Socialistic Cooperative Publishing Association, 1904. * ''Speeches of Acceptance of Eugene V. Debs and Ben. Hanford: Candidates of the Socialist Party for President and Vice-President; Delivered at the National Convention of the Socialist Party Held at Chicago, May 1–6, 1904.'' Chicago: National Committee of the Socialist Party, 1904. * ''Shall the Mine Owners Murder Moyer and Haywood Because They are Trade Union Officials?'' New York: n.p., n.d. . 1906
''Fight for Your Life! Recording Some Activities of a Labor Agitator.''
Introduction by Joshua Wanhope. New York: Wilshire Book Co., 1909. * ''The Jimmie Higgins.'' Girard, KS: Appeal to Reason, n.d.
919 __NOTOC__ Year 919 ( CMXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By Place Byzantine Empire * March 25 – Romanos Lekapenos, admiral (''droungarios'') of the ...
"Jimmie Higgins is also a one man play by Portland, ME writer and actor Harlan Baker.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanford, Benjamin 1861 births 1910 deaths Politicians from Marshalltown, Iowa American typographers and type designers Politicians from New York City Socialist Party of America politicians from New York (state) 1904 United States vice-presidential candidates 1908 United States vice-presidential candidates 19th-century American politicians Trade unionists from New Jersey