Franklin E. Bennett Biography


	This biography appears on pages 121-122 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm



				FRANKLIN E. BENNETT. 

	Among the prominent citizens of Belle Fourche is Franklin E. 
Bennett, who has many business interests in that part of the state and 
is engaged in breeding pure bred stock on a large scale. He was born in 
La Salle, Illinois, January 20, 1865, the eldest of five children whose 
parents were William C. and Florence (De Merritt) Bennett. The father 
was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, August 10, 1836, and the mother 
in Portland, Maine, in 1845. William C. Bennett engaged in steamboating 
in early life and in the '50s emigrated from eastern Pennsylvania to 
Illinois, where he was employed on the river during the Civil war and 
afterward until 1868. In that year he entered the employ of Deere & 
Company at Moline, with whom he remained until 1871. He then became 
connected with the Barnard & Las Manufacturing Company of that city, 
and is still president of that company and an important factor in the 
industrial interests of his locality. He served as mayor of Moline for 
one term and the affairs of the city were managed in an efficient, 
businesslike manner during his administration. His wife passed away in 
1881. 

	Franklin E. Bennett attended high school at Moline and for a 
short time was a student in a business college at Davenport, Iowa. When 
fifteen years of age he went west and worked for others, herding cattle 
in central Nebraska for a time, after which he returned home. When 
twenty years of age he entered the employ of the Deere & Mansure 
Company at Moline as stenographer and paymaster and was connected with 
that concern until 1887. In August of that year he went to Minneapolis, 
Minnesota, and was employed as office man by the Wilford & Northway 
Manufacturing Company until the spring of 1891, when he came to Belle 
Fourche and in association with a Mr. Teall erected a flour mill. He 
was engaged in the milling business until 1903 or 1904 and from 1893 to 
1906 also dealt in lumber. These connections were not his only 
interests as he was identified with the waterworks and also with the 
Belle Fourche Electric Light & Power Company, which is now the Belle 
Fourche Consolidated Power & Light Company. He is now president of the 
company which publishes the Belle Fouche Bee, a wide-awake and 
enterprising weekly newspaper. His attention at present, however, is 
mainly given to the breeding and raising of pure bred Rambouillets as a 
member of the firm of Cock & Bennett, which owns extensive grazing 
lands in Butte county. 

	Mr. Bennett was married on the 15th of October, 1890, to Miss 
Gertrude Teall. She was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, of the marriage 
of Benjamin F. and Julia (Van Cleef) Teall, both of whom were born in 
the vicinity of Seneca, New York. Mr. Teall engaged in mercantile 
business and in 1891 came with his family to Belle Fouche. He formed a 
partnership with Mr. Bennett and the firm built a mill with which he 
was connected until his death in 1902. His widow is still living in 
Belle Fourche, To their union were born three children, of whom Mrs. 
Bennett is the eldest. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have two children: Franklin 
Teall, whose birth occurred July 25, 1892; and Sara L., born June 3, 
1894. Both are attending the University of Minnesota. 

	Mr. Bennett is a republican and was county auditor of Butte 
county from March 1, 1913 to March 1, 1915. For two terms he was county 
treasurer and that his record in that connection was satisfactory to 
his constituents is proven by his being chosen county auditor. He 
likewise served for two terms as trustee of the township board. He is a 
member of the Masonic blue lodge and chapter and served as master for 
two terms and is at present secretary. He likewise holds membership in 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Strict attention to business, 
conformity to high standards of morality and the exercise of sound 
judgment have brought him to his present position as one of the well-
to-do men of his county, and he possesses the goodwill and esteem of 
those who have been brought in contact with him.