Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

T.B. Constain, Andrew W. Mellon, Adolph Ochs, Joseph Pulitzer, William Marion Reedy, Elmer
Rice, and Alfred E. Smith. The collection also includes his work in the investigation and
publishing of facts in the Sacco-Vanzetti case, prohibition, and other public questions of the
period, 1925-1940.
See archives card index.
Cite as: Silas Bent Papers, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0113
Bentley, Jane M.
Research notes, 1969-1983 (bulk 1969-1977). 1 box
Collection includes research notes, correspondence, several scrapbooks, etc., concerning
Bentley's genealogical research on her great great grandfather Salmon Giddings. Also includes
the undated literary notebook of Frederick Salmon Giddings and several notebooks compiled by
Bentley regarding the history of Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, in Chesterfield, Missouri, and
Giddings' relationship to the church. Jane Bentley left this collection with Bonhomme
Presbyterian Church to do with as they saw fit.
Cite as: Jane M. Bentley Research Notes, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0114
Benton School.
Scrapbook, 1993-2003. 2 boxes; 1 oversize folder
Select photocopies of data from photograph albums assembled by James McEwen
documenting the history of Benton School in St. Louis. Also includes two original year books
and an original program. (Original scrapbooks are held at the St. Louis Public School Archives.)
Cite as: Benton School Scrapbook, Missouri History Museum Archives, St. Louis.
A0115
Benton, Thomas Hart (1782-1858).
Papers, 1790-1958. 2 boxes
Thomas Hart Benton was born March 14, 1782, near Hillsborough, North Carolina. He was
the son of Colonel Jesse Benton and Ann Gooch Benton. The family moved to Tennessee after
the death of Col. Benton and settled an area of wilderness 25 miles from Nashville. Thomas
attended the University of North Carolina but did not complete his studies before the family
moved westward. Later, Thomas studied law under St. George Tucker, joined the U.S. Army in
1810, and became closely associated with Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Andrew Jackson. He
was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1811. Benton was elected to the Tennessee legislature, but
when the War of 1812 was declared he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson.
A dispute between Jackson and Benton’s brother Jesse and William Carroll eventually involved
Thomas and the subsequent disagreements resulted in several years of estrangement between
Benton and Jackson. In 1815, Benton moved to St. Louis and started the Missouri Inquirer but
also continued to practice law. In large part because of his avid support of Missouri statehood,
Benton was elected as one of the two first senators from Missouri in 1820 and served in that
office for the next thirty years, 1821-1851. Benton was a strong Democrat and staunch supporter
of President Andrew Jackson. He chose to retire from the U.S. Senate in 1850, but was elected to
the U.S. House in 1852. Benton ran for governor of Missouri in 1856, but was defeated in a
three-way race. He retired from politics and dedicated the remainder of his life to writing about
his career in politics. Benton died in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 1858. He is buried in
Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Elizabeth McDowell Benton, whom Thomas married in