Charles S. Benton
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Charles Swan Benton (July 12, 1810 - May 4, 1882) was a United States Representative from New York. He was born in Fryeburg, Maine. He pursued preparatory studies before moving to Herkimer County, New York in 1824 to live with an elder brother. Later, he attended Lowville Academy, Lowville, New York. He also learned the tanner’s trade and was the editor of the Mohawk Courier and the Little Falls Gazette 1830-1832. In addition, he studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1835 and commenced practice at Little Falls, New York.
Benton was the surrogate of Herkimer County in 1837. He was the judge advocate of the New York militia. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1847) but was not a candidate for renomination in 1846. After leaving Congress, he was the clerk of the court of appeals 1847-1849. He moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1855 and subsequently became editor of the Milwaukee News.
Benton was appointed by President Franklin Pierce in 1856 as register of the United States land office at La Crosse, Wisconsin and served until 1861. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress. He engaged in agricultural pursuits near West Salem, Wisconsin and later, in 1865, at Galesburg, Illinois. He returned to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1869. He served as judge of La Crosse County, Wisconsin 1874-1881. He died in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1882 and was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.
