Maecenas Eason Benton

Democrat Representative of Missouri's 15th district

Congresses Served

House Terms

January 29, 1848 (76 years old)

Birthday

March 27, 1924

Death

American politician and lawyer.
Served as a U.S. Representative from Missouri.
Attended two academies in west Tennessee and graduated from the Cumberland School of Law.
Served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.
Practiced law in Neosho, Missouri, after being admitted to the bar.
Held the position of prosecuting attorney for Newton County, Missouri, from 1878 to 1884.
Served as the United States attorney from March 1885 to July 1889.
Participated as a delegate in the 1896 Democratic National Convention.
Elected to four consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1897 to 1905.
Unsuccessful in his bid for re-election in 1904.
Involved in state constitutional conventions in 1922 and 1924.
Died of throat cancer in Springfield, Missouri, and was buried in Neosho, Missouri.
Father of notable painter Thomas Hart Benton.