Benton, THOMAS HART

Benton, THOMAS HART, an American statesman, born in North Carolina in 1782, settled in Tennessee, where he studied law, and was elected to the legislature. In 1812 he raised a regiment of volunteers, and also served on General Jackson's staff. After the war, he started a newspaper in St Louis, by which he became involved in several duels. On the admission of Missouri as a state, he was chosen United States senator in 1820, and in this post, during thirty years' continuous service, took a leading part in public affairs. He died in Washington, April 10, 1858. A determined opponent of Calhoun's nullification scheme, he afterwards supported Jackson in his war on the United States bank, and earned the sobriquet of 'Old Bullion' by his opposition to the paper currency. He published A Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Working of the American Government from 1820 to 1850 (2 vols. 1854–56); and An Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1856 (15 vols. 1857).