Benjamin STEPHENSON, Congress, IL (1822)

STEPHENSON, Benjamin, a Delegate from Illinois Territory; born in Kentucky, birth date unknown; moved to Illinois Territory in 1809 and settled in Randolph County; appointed as the first sheriff of Randolph County by Governor Edwards June 28, 1809; moved to Edwardsville, Madison County, and engaged in the general mercantile business; appointed adjutant general of the Territory in 1813; served as a colonel in two campaigns during the War of 1812; elected on September 3, 1814, to Congress for a term of two years (Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses) (November 14, 1814-March 3, 1817); was not a candidate for renomination in 1816; served as receiver of public moneys in the land office at Edwardsville from April 29, 1816, until his death; delegate to the convention in 1818 which framed the first State constitution; president of the Bank of Edwardsville in 1819; died in Edwardsville, Ill., October 10, 1822.

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