BIOGRAPHIES

Benton County, Arkansas Genealogy Trails


BENTON, Senator Thomas Hart

BERRY, Governor James Henderson

DINSMORE, Hugh Anderson 

FLOYD, John Charles 

GREENWOOD, Alfred Burton

PEEL, Samuel West

SEAMSTER, Lee A.

SENATOR THOMAS HART BENTON nicknamed "Old Bullion" (March 14, 1782-April 10, 1858), was a Senator from Missouri and a staunch advocate of westward expansion of the United States.  He served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms.  Benton was an architect and champion of westward expansion, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny.
Benton was born in Harts Mill, North Carolina, near the present-day town of Hillsborough.  His father, a wealthy lawyer and landowner, died in 1790.  Benton also studied law at the University of North Carolina, but in 1799 left school to manage the family estate.
Attracted by the opportunities in the West, the young Benton moved the family to a 40,000 acre holding near Nashville, Tennessee.  Here he established a plantation with accompanying schools, churches, and mills.  His experience as a pioneer instilled a devotion to Jeffersonian democracy which continued through his political career.
He continued his legal education and was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1805, and in 1809 served a term as state senator.  He attracted the attention of Tennessee's "first citizen" Andrew Jackson, under whose tutelage he remained during the Tennessee years.
After the war, in 1815, Benton moved his estate to the newly-opened Missouri Territory.  As a tennessean, he was under Jackson's shadow; in Missouri, he could be a big fish in the as yet small pond.  He settled in St. Louis, where he practiced law and edited the Missouri Enquirer, the second major newspaper west of the Mississippi River.  The Missouri compromise of 1820 made the territory into a state, and Benton was elected as one of its first senators.
He published his autobiography, Thirty Year's View, in 1854, and died in Washington, D. C. two years later.  His descendants have continued to be prominent in Missouri life; his great-nephew, also Thomas Hart Benton, was a 20th-century painter.
Benton's name is memorialized in place names across the country, including Benton Counties in ARKANSAS, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington.  The United States Navy ship, USS BENTON, was named in his honor.  A statue of Thomas Hart Benton is one of the two for Missourians in the United States Capitol. 

Source:  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

HUGH ANDERSON DINSMORE, a Representative from Arkansas; born at Cave Springs, Benton County, Ark., on December 24, 1850; attended private schools in Benton and Washington Counties; studied law in Bentonville; appointed clerk of the circuit court for Benton County in 1873; was admitted to the bar in 1874; moved to Fayetteville, Washington County, in 1875 and pursued the practice of law; prosecuting attorney of the fourth judicial district 1878-1884; in January 1887 was appointed by President Cleveland as Minister Resident and consul general to the Kingdom of Korea and served until May 25, 1890; resumed the practice of law in Fayetteville, Ark.; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1905); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1904 to the Fifty-ninth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Fayetteville, Ark., and in later years devoted most of his time to the management of his farming interests; member of the board of trustees of the University of Arkansas; died in St. Louis, Mo., on May 2, 1930; interment in Evergreen Cemetery, Fayetteville, Ark.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present

JOHN CHARLES FLOYD, a Representative from Arkansas; born in Sparta, White County, Tenn., April 14, 1858; moved to Benton County, Ark., in 1869 with his parents, who settled near Bentonville; attended the common and high schools, and was graduated from the Arkansas Industrial University (later the University of Arkansas) at Fayetteville in 1879; taught school at Springdale, Ark., in 1880 and 1881; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1882 and commenced practice in Yellville, Ark.; served in the State house of representatives 1889-1891; prosecuting attorney of the fourteenth judicial circuit 1890-1894; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-ninth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1905-March 3, 1915); one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1912 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Robert W. Archbald, judge of the United States Commerce Court; was not a candidate for renomination in 1914; resumed the practice of law in Yellville, Ark.; unsuccessful candidate for nomination as Governor of Arkansas in 1920; died in Yellville, Ark., November 4, 1930; interment in Layton Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present

ALFRED BURTON GREENWOOD, a Representative from Arkansas; born in Franklin County, Ga., July 11, 1811; pursued classical studies at Lawrenceville, Ga.; was graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1832 and commenced practice in Bentonville, Ark; member of the State house of representatives 1842-1845; State prosecuting attorney 1845-1851; circuit judge of Arkansas 1851-1853; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, and Thirty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1859); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-fifth Congress); Commissioner of Indian Affairs from May 13, 1859, to April 13, 1861; served in the Confederate House of Representatives 1862-1865; died in Bentonville, Ark., October 4, 1889; interment in Odd Fellows Cemetery.


SAMUEL WEST PEEL, a Representative from Arkansas; born near Batesville, Independence County, Ark., September 13, 1831; attended the common schools; clerk of the circuit court of Carroll County, Ark., 1858-1860; entered the Confederate service in 1861 as a private; elected major of the Third Regiment, Arkansas Infantry, and later colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Arkansas Infantry; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession in Carrollton, Ark., in 1865; moved to Bentonville, Benton County, in 1867 and continued the practice of law; prosecuting attorney of the fourth judicial circuit of Arkansas 1873-1876; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1883-March 3, 1893); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Fiftieth and Fifty-second Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1892; resumed the practice of law in Bentonville, Ark., and before the Court of Claims at Washington, D.C., until 1915; died in Bentonville, Ark., December 18, 1924; interment in Bentonville Cemetery.


LEE A. SEAMSTER (1888-1960) — of Fayetteville, Washington County, Ark. born in Benton County, Ark., 1888. Democrat. Lawyer; member of Arkansas state house of representatives, 1914-20, 1947-48; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Arkansas, 1948; chief justice of Arkansas state supreme court, 1955-56. Died in 1960. Burial location unknown.

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2006-2007 Arkansas Genealogy Trails