Benjamin Joseph FRANKLIN, Congress, MO (1839-1898)

FRANKLIN, Benjamin Joseph, a Representative from Missouri; born in Maysville, Mason County, Ky., in March 1839; attended private schools, and Bethany College, Bethany, Va. (now West Virginia), 1849-1851; taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and commenced practice in Leavenworth, Kans.; elected to the State senate of Kansas in 1861, but due to the outbreak of the Civil War never served; entered the Confederate Army as a private; was promoted to the rank of captain and served throughout the Civil War; moved to Columbia, Mo., and engaged in agricultural pursuits; moved to Kansas City, Mo., in 1868 and resumed the practice of law; prosecuting attorney for Jackson County, Mo., 1871-1875; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1879); chairman, Committee on Territories (Forty-fifth Congress); was a candidate for renomination, but withdrew; again engaged in the practice of law in Kansas City, Mo.; appointed United States consul at Hankow, China, in 1885; returned to the United States in 1890 and settled in Phoenix, Ariz., and engaged in the practice of law; appointed Governor of the Territory of Arizona and served from April 18, 1896, to July 29, 1897; died in Phoenix, Ariz., May 18, 1898; interment in Rosedale Cemetery.

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