John Forbes Benjamin

John Forbes Benjamin (January 23, 1817 – March 8, 1877) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri and a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He was born in Cicero, Onondaga County, New York, where he attended the public schools. Little is recorded about his family background, but his early education in New York provided the foundation for his later legal and political career.

In 1845, Benjamin moved from New York to Texas, part of the broader mid-nineteenth-century migration to the Southwest. After three years there, he relocated in 1848 to Missouri, settling in Shelby County. That same year he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of law in Shelbyville, Missouri. His legal work quickly brought him into public life, and he became an active figure in Missouri’s political affairs.

Benjamin entered elective office as a Democrat, serving as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 1850 to 1852. His growing prominence in party politics led to his selection as a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856. During this antebellum period, he continued his legal practice while building a reputation as a capable lawyer and public servant in northeastern Missouri.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Benjamin aligned with the Union cause. In 1861 he entered the Union Army as a private and advanced steadily through the ranks, being promoted to captain, major, and lieutenant colonel, and ultimately receiving the rank of brevet brigadier general. In addition to his field service, he held important administrative responsibilities, serving as provost marshal of the Eighth District of Missouri in 1863 and 1864. His wartime service marked a decisive shift in his political alignment, and he emerged from the conflict associated with the Republican Party.

Benjamin’s military and political standing led to his participation in national party affairs. In 1864 he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for a second term. The following year he was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth Congress and was subsequently reelected to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses, serving from March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1871, as a Representative from Missouri. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he took part in the legislative work of the Reconstruction era and served as chairman of the Committee on Invalid Expenditures in the Forty-first Congress. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1870.

After leaving Congress, Benjamin returned to Missouri and resumed the practice of law in Shelbyville. He remained active in public affairs and sought to return to Congress as a Republican, but he was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1872 to the Forty-third Congress. In 1874 he moved to Washington, D.C., where he turned from law to finance and engaged in banking, maintaining his connections to the political and governmental community in the capital.

John Forbes Benjamin died in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 1877. His remains were returned to Missouri, and he was interred in a private cemetery at Shelbina, in Shelby County. His legacy in the state is reflected in the naming of the community of Benjamin, Missouri, in his honor, commemorating his service as a lawyer, legislator, soldier, and Member of Congress.