Hillsborough County FlArchives Biographies.....Benjamin, George Nelson 1854 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 June 27, 2010, 4:35 pm Source: See below Author: See below George Nelson Benjamin A descendent of an old Welsh family that was among the early settlers of Massachusetts and furnished patriotic sons who helped to win American freedom in the war of the Revolution and to again drive the British from American shores in the war of 1812; his youth and young manhood, when not in school, spent amid stirring scenes of activity, on the plains and in the Rocky Mountains; his maturer years devoted to farming, orange culture and mercantile pursuits, in which he has accumulated a fortune; the founder of a city which is a perfect hive of growing industry, a man noted for his generosity and enterprise, interested in and supporting every plan for public improvement, successful, honored and esteemed, George Nelson Benjamin, of West Tampa, has had an interesting and eventful career. The Benjamins came from Wales; two brothers, Henry Rawson Benjamin and George Nelson Benjamin, settling in Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century. They were active in Colonial affairs and during the war of the Revolution there were at least two of the family in the American army, one serving as a captain. They also fought in the war of 1812 and at the close of the latter war, George Nelson Benjamin, from whom the subject of this sketch is descended, located in "The Western Reserve" and his descendents settled in various states, throughout the South and West. There were several members of the family who became prominent in Missouri as extensive planters, and in other parts of the country they were influential financiers. George Nelson Benjamin, the subject of this sketch, was born in Kendallville, Ind., Oct. 30, 1854. His father was Henry Rawson Benjamin, M. D., and his mother, Carolina Whitford Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin received a thorough education, but much of the first twenty years of his life was spent on the great plains and in the Rocky Mountains. He crossed the plains in a prairie schooner with his father who was attracted to the West and for several years was a "freighter." The rugged out-door Western life and the determination with which apparently insurmountable difficulties were overcome, the method of doing things impressed itself upon the growing youth and prepared him for accomplishing results and winning the success that is his. During the war between the States Mr. Benjamin attended the Kellogsville Union School, in Ohio. He later attended the Omaha High School, from which he was graduated, and after a two years' course at the University of Michigan, was graduated in pharmacy. After residing in various portions of the West the family removed to Florida, in October 1875, and settled at Tampa. For a number of years he and his father conducted the largest drug store in the city and made such a succes of it that Mr. Benjamin was enabled to invest in various enterprises. He became interested in orange growing, farming and shipping. After the disastrous freeze of 1895 when the fruit growing industry was crippled, Mr. Benjamin again engaged in the drug business, and although he still owns a number of large and profitable orange groves and several good paying farms, he has devoted the past dozen years to the promotion of the industrial and commercial interests of Tampa. He is the pioneer of West Tampa and one of the incorporators of that prosperous manufacturing center, in the building up of which no man has done more if any has done as much. He has been instrumental in the location of several large cigar factories in West Tampa, giving the sites on which to build them, and in all cases a cash bonus. He is one of a half dozen men who by their co-operation, built at personal expense of $13,000 a substantial bridge across the Hillsboro river connecting West Tampa with Tampa. His generosity and liberality are proverbial and no public enterprise has ever failed for lack of his support. He was president of the West Tampa City Council in 1896 and '97, and from 1898 through 1900 was mayor of the city. In 1901 he was chosen one of the pilot commissioners for Tampa Harbor and his present term in that office will not expire until 1911. Mr. Benjamin has numerous investments of a commercial and industrial nature and along with a high degree of mentality has unlimited energy and enterprise. He is treasurer of the West Tampa Land and Improvement Company, a director in the West Tampa Bank, in the American Life Insurance Company, in the Tampa Tile and Paving Company, and in the Stempel Tile and Pile Company. He is also interested in a number of smaller industries and is one of the most influential factors in the Tampa Board of Trade, in which organization he is a member of the Board of Governors. Mr. Benjamin is a Democrat, but has never held any political office unless those connected with the government of West Tampa may be said to be political. He was married June 2, 1878 to Lettie C. Collins, a daughter of Philip and Ann Collins, of Tampa, and they have five children, viz: Hal C, Herbert R., George N. Jr., Frank H. and Jerry S. Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin belongs to but one secret order, that of the Masons, in which he has taken high rank. He has been Worthy Master of his lodge, Hillsboro, No. 25; Eminent Commander of Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 8 of the Knights Templar. He has taken the thirty-second degree including all the Scottish rite degrees in the supreme jurisdiction and is a member of Morocco Temple No. 315 of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Benjamin declares that he belongs to the church that takes in all the human family. In early life he was a great reader of medicine and history and in later years has read all obtainable literature on the different phases of biology and phsychic research. He is an advocate of the initiative and referendum for the decision of all important subjects of State and favors the election of United States Senators by a direct vote of the people. He believes there is immediate need of national legislation on the financial and tariff questions, of a nature that will be in the interests of the people at large, accompanied by the repeal of standing statutes that are in the interests of the few. If possible to accomplish it by legislation there should be enacted and enforced such laws as will preclude the possibility of money congestion in the great financial centers, the ruin of all nations. He believes in reclaiming and holding all lands for the people, and in striving for the immigration to Florida of Americans, letting the undesirable citizens find location elsewhere. There are two kinds of men who make money. Those who make money only, and those who make money and make good as citizens. The first class is worth but little to the country. The second class has a value which cannot be measured. From the days of Stephen Girard to the present, these successful business men, who are also successful citizens, have been mighty contributors to the making of this nation. One of this better class of money-makers, and within his sphere of action, George Nelson Benjamin, has been as useful as the conditions permitted. No higher praise can be given to any man. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. II. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. MCCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/hillsborough/photos/bios/benjamin120gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/hillsborough/bios/benjamin120gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 8.3 Kb