Maecenas Eason Benton was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. He was the father of Thomas Hart Benton

Thomas Hart Benton (painter)

Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...

, who gained fame as a painter of the American Scene.

Born near Dyersburg, Tennessee

Dyersburg, Tennessee

Dyersburg is a city in and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States, north-northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River.  The population was 17,145 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Dyersburg is located at...

, Benton attended two west Tennessee academies and St. Louis University.
He was graduated from the Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law

Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...

 at Cumberland University

Cumberland University

Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...

, Lebanon, Tennessee

Lebanon, Tennessee

Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...

, in 1870.
He served in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

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He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Neosho, Missouri

Neosho, Missouri

Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....

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He served as prosecuting attorney of Newton County, MO from 1878-1884.
He was the United States attorney from March 1885 to July 1889.
He served as delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1896.

Benton was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Fifty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1905).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election in 1904 to the Fifty-ninth Congress.
He resumed his law practice in Neosho, Missouri

Neosho, Missouri

Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....

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He served as member of the State constitutional conventions in 1922 and 1924.
He died in Springfield, Missouri

Springfield, Missouri

Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

, April 27, 1924 of throat cancer.
He was interred in the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Neosho, Missouri

Neosho, Missouri

Neosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....

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