BENSON BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri
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BENSON, Sidney R. - b: 1844 Jackson Co, IA
source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - 
page: 789
residence: Shawnee Twp

S. R. Benson - The family tree of the Benson family has its roots in the earliest 
history of our Nation, members of which have given their lives to evolve this 
great democratic Government. S. R. Benson was born in 1844 in Jackson County, 
Iowa, the son of John and Almeda (Green) Benson. John Benson and his wife were 
among the pioneers of Iowa, settling upon her broad prairies when men laughed at 
the mere possibility of it ever being an agricultural country. John Benson was 
born in 1796 in Cattaraugus County, New York, and his wife was born in Green 
County, New York, in 1810. Mrs. Almeda Green was the daughter of a 
Revolutionary soldier who was captured by the British and taken into Canada, a 
prisoner of war. He effected his escape and crossed the Niagara River back into 
his own country. For many days he was dependent upon nature for food, eating the 
berries and bark of the trees. Such privations were endured by the men who 
fought for liberty. John and Almeda (Green) Benson are both deceased and are 
buried in Grundy County, Iowa. They were the parents of twelve children: Ursula, 
married Edwin Parker in Hardin County, Iowa; Sylvia, wife of J. Linley, 
Bloomington, Illinois; Matilda, Bloomington, Illinois; Effie Swayne of Harding 
County, Iowa; Solon F., a banker of Pierson, Iowa; Horace J., lives in Kentucky, and 
S. R., the subject of this sketch. S. R. Benson was reared and educated in Delaware 
County, Iowa, where his parents lived for some time. In 1864, when only a lad of 
twenty and the fire of adventure burning high within his breast, he left the 
parental roof to explore the western lands. He crossed the Missouri at Omaha, 
Nebraska, and followed the Platte river until he reached his destination in 
Montana. The slow and steady ox team was his conveyance and the stars by night 
his shelter. S. R. Benson and his brother, Edwin, started on this trip across the 
plains together. The brother died on the plains and S. R. was left alone. He 
continued on alone, taking his brother's body with him until he came upon a party 
of campers who helped him make a rough coffin out of a wagon box and assisted 
in the burial. Leaving the lone grave of his brother by the side of the trail on the 
desert, Mr. Benson continued his journey westward until he reached Virginia City, 
Montana. Four years and eight months later he returned to Hardin County, Iowa, 
where he was married to Lucinda Griffith and again they left their home to visit 
the state of Colorado. His wife died in Colorado, leaving two sons: Lester S. and 
Charles W., who reside at Stewart, Wyoming. Mr. Benson remained in Colorado 
until 1884, when he went to Washington County, Kansas, and farmed until in 
1903, when he came to Shawnee township, Henry County. September 29, 1886, S. 
R. Benson married Mary Catherine Woods, a native of Jewell County, Kansas, and a 
daughter of Richard and Mary J. Woods, both deceased. Her father died in 1860 in 
Iowa and her mother, who married Obed Hastings after her first husband died in 
Jewell County, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Benson have two sons, R. H. and Vernon B., 
both serving in the United States Army in the World War. Mr. Benson is the owner 
of four hundred forty acres of well improved land on which he has made 
wonderful improvements since his possession of same. A portion of his land is 
farmed by a tenant, who has a new home and buildings built for him. Mr. Benson is 
a Democrat and one of Henry County's foremost citizens.

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