Erastus A. Benson was a banker, investor

Investor

An investor is a party that makes an investment into one or more categories of assets --- equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, derivatives such as put and call options, etc...

 and land speculator in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

. Born and raised in Iowa, after graduating from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 Benson speculated in land around Omaha. After investing in early business ventures in the phonograph and the Kinetoscope

Kinetoscope

The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...

, Benson staged an unsuccessful bid to become the mayor of Omaha. In addition to being one of the inaugural members of the influential National Phonograph Association, the former town of Benson, Nebraska

Benson, Nebraska

Benson is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Now a pocket within North Omaha, Benson Place was originally platted in 1887 and was annexed into the City of Omaha in 1917.-History:...

 was named after him.

Biography

Erastus Benson was born February 10, 1854, and completed his schooling in Iowa. He later attended both Wesleyan College

Wesleyan College

Wesleyan College is a private, liberal arts women's college located in Macon, Georgia, United States.-History:The school was chartered on December 23, 1836 as the Georgia Female College, and opened its doors to students on January 7, 1839. The school was renamed Wesleyan Female College in 1843...

 and the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

. After moving to Omaha 1886, he acquired a number of properties in and around Omaha. Throughout his life, Benson was a respected member of the business community in Omaha, with memberships in the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and the Real Estate Exchange.

Land speculation

Through a company he owned called the Omaha Abstract and Trust Company, Benson accumulated a great deal of land around Omaha. In 1887 Erastus Benson purchased approximately 900 acres (3.6 km²) of farm land approximately nine miles northwest of Omaha from John Creighton

John Creighton

John Creighton may refer to:*John Oliver Creighton, American astronaut*John W. Creighton, Jr., American businessman*John Creighton, 1st Earl Erne, Irish peer*Lieutenant John Creighton, American Naval officer involved in the Little Belt Affair in 1811...

, an important businessman and philanthropist in the city. Benson Place

Benson, Nebraska

Benson is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Now a pocket within North Omaha, Benson Place was originally platted in 1887 and was annexed into the City of Omaha in 1917.-History:...

, a suburb of Omaha, was platted on March 4, 1887. Benson's application to run a streetcar line connecting the suburb with Omaha was approved the same day. Benson attracted buyers by hiring Charles Jesse "Buffalo" Jones to graze herds of buffalo along Military Road.

Investments

In the late 1890s, Benson was a central figure in the founding the first of the regional companies associated with the North American Phonograph Company called the Chicago Central Phonograph Company, along with Alfred O. Tate and Thomas Lombard

Thomas Lombard

Thomas Lombard , is a French rugby rugby union player. Thomas Lombard began playing Rugby Union with Racing but he moved to Stade Français with whom he won four top 14s. After a new title in 2004, he left Paris to played for Worcester Warriors. He then returned to his original club, Racing...

. He later began the Nebraska Phonograph Company, and was president of that company. As president of the company Benson had an exclusive deal with Edison, leading the company to dominate phonograph

Phonograph

The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...

 sales throughout the Midwest for several years. In that capacity he also discovered the young Leon Douglas

Leon Douglas

Leon Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. A bulky 6–10 ft and 230 lbs center at the University of Alabama, he was a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, the first Alabama player to achieve this distinction since Jerry Harper earned it in...

, who was a self-educated boy telephone operator

Telephone operator

A telephone operator is either* a person who provides assistance to a telephone caller, usually in the placing of operator assisted telephone calls such as calls from a pay phone, collect calls , calls which are billed to a credit card, station-to-station and person-to-person calls, and certain...

 who at the age of 21 invented one of the first workable patents for a coin-operated phonograph. Douglas sold the patent to Benson.

After Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

 finished his Kinetoscope

Kinetoscope

The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. Though not a movie projector—it was designed for films to be viewed individually through the window of a cabinet housing its components—the Kinetoscope introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic...

, he marketed the device and his films through the independently-owned Kinetoscope Company. Erastus Benson, along with Alfred O. Tate, Thomas Lombard, Norman C. Raff, Frank R. Gammon, and Andrew Holland.

Politics

In 1906 Benson ran on the Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 ticket to reform Omaha's reputation "open town" where anything goes. Criminal elements in the city, led by Tom Dennison

Tom Dennison (political boss)

Tom Dennison, aka Pickhandle, Old Grey Wolf, was the early-20th century political boss of Omaha, Nebraska. A politically savvy, culturally astute gambler, Dennison was in charge of the city's wide crime rings, including prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the 1920s...

, sought to defeat Benson. Their candidate, "Cowboy Jim" Dahlman

James Dahlman

James Charles Dahlman , also known as Jim Dahlman, Cowboy Jim and Mayor Jim, was elected to eight terms as mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, serving the city for 20 years over a 23-year-period. A German-American and an agnostic, Dahlman grew up in a ranching area and started working as a Texas cowboy...

, eventually won the election, and eight others thereafter. Benson never ran for public office in Omaha again.

Philanthropy

While developing Benson Place, Erastus donated land in town for the construction of a schoolhouse, a town hall where church services and community events were held, and for an orphanage.

After the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and increased hostilities by the Turkish against Armenians, Syrians and Greeks, Benson became instrumental in answering President Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

's call for assistance from Americans for the affected people. Benson became the vice-president of the Nebraska branch of the American Committee for Armenian-Syrian Relief, which was headquartered in Omaha.

Other interests

Benson also has a number of original recordings included in the Edison Sheet Music Collection of the Music Division of the United States Library of Congress. He has approximately twenty songs included that were recorded between 1866 and 1878.