Lewis County, West Virginia Biography of John Brannon BENNETT This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. 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 WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 402-403 JOHN BRANNON BENNETT is a lawyer by training and profession, practiced a number of years at Weston, but now has the active business management of the old Ben- nett estate at Walkersville, a noted general purpose and stock farm of 1,000 acres, a portion of the original tract of 5,000 acres once owned by his great-grandfather Bennett. Bennett is one of the oldest and most distinguished names in the annals of Lewis County, West Virginia. William Bennett, its founder, was born in Pendleton County, Vir- ginia, in 1775, son of Joseph Bennett, a native of Scot- land, who settled in Augusta County, Virginia, before the Revolutionary war. William., Bennett in 1797 bought a large tract of land in Lewis County from George Jackson, and he moved to the county in 1798 and throughout the rest of his life bore the reputation of a large land owner and a prominent citizen, serving on the first grand jury in the county. He died in 1857. His wife was Rebecca McCally, a native of Botetourt County, Virginia. They were married October 21, 1796. Her father, Dr. James McCally, resigned as captain in the British Marines to join the American Colonists in the Revolutionary war, and he spent his last years at the home of William Bennett in West Virginia. The grandfather of John Brannon Ben- nett was Jonathan McCally Bennett, who was born in Lewis County, October 4, 1816, and died October 28, 1887. During his youth schools were hardly available, but his active mind led him into a wide field of knowledge and he acquired the equivalent of a liberal education and be- came a very thorough and eminent lawyer. During his youth he was deputy county clerk and deputy sheriff, was admitted to the bar in 1843, was the first prosecuting at- torney of Gilmer County, and practiced law with Judge Gideon D. Camden until the latter was elevated to the bench in 1852. Jonathan M. Bennett was elected the first mayor of Weston in 1846, and in 1852 took the place in the Legislature vacated by Mr. Camden. Not long after- ward he was appointed auditor of public accounts for the State of Virginia by Governor Wise, and filled that post of duty until 1865. As auditor of the state he was at Richmond at the outbreak of the Civil war. He was in- strumental in securing the appointment of Stonewall Jack- son to a cadetship at West Point, and likewise was an in- fluence in securing his appointment as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. He was elected presi- dent of the Exchange Bank of Weston in 1853. In 1858 he was defeated for nomination for Congress on the demo- cratic ticket by only a small margin. It was largely due to him that Weston was selected as the site for the hos- pital for insane. After the war he resumed his law prac- tice at Weston, was elected a member of the State Sen- ate, and was one of the commissioners appointed to ne- gotiate with Virginia relative to the division of the state debt. His report on that subject was one of the valuable documents that figured in the negotiations closed only a few years ago. He was also president of the Weston & Buckhannon Railroad. The wife of Jonathan McCally Bennett was Margaret Elizabeth Jackson, a daughter of Capt. George W. Jack- son and granddaughter of George Jackson, who was a member of Congress from Virginia and one of the Virginia Convention which adopted the Federal Constitution. Capt. George W. Jackson was born February 9, 1791, was ap- pointed first lieutenant of the Nineteenth United States Infantry by President James Madison, July 6, 1812, served in the War of 1812, rose to the rank of captain, and was one of the distinguished citizens of Lewis County, where he died in 1876. Jonathan McCally Bennett and wife had four children. The daughter Gertrude became the wife of Dr. Fleming Howell, of Clarksburg. Mary Lee was the wife of William D. Bowie, of Baltimore, son of Governor Bowie. The two sons were William G. Bennett and Louis Bennett. Louis Bennett graduated in law at the University of Virginia in 1871, served for a time as principal of the State Normal School at Glenville, and later enjoyed an immensely successful law practice at Weston and had many widespread interests as a banker, owner of coal, oil and gas properties, and was speaker of the House of Delegates of West Virginia in 1891. The late William George Bennett shared with his brother Louis in many of the best distinctions given to a lawyer, business man and public spirited citizen. He was bora at Weston, January 5, 1847, was educated under private tutors and in private schools at Richmond, Virginia, and as a member of the Virginia Military Institute Cadets participated in the battle of Newmarket and other phases of the closing days of the war. He graduated from the Military Institute in 1866, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1869. He was the first member and the first presiding officer of the Alpha Tau Omega and an organizer of the Chapter of that fraternity at the University of Virginia. He practiced law at Wes- ton twenty years, and was eminent both as a criminal and civil lawyer. He defended a great number of criminal cases, and only once was a man he defended convicted of felony. The character and ability that made him an able lawyer equally distinguished him on the bench. He was elected circuit judge as a democrat in a strong republican district in 1889, served a term of eight years and in 1898 was re-elected, retiring from the bench in January 1905. He was defeated several times by a small margin as can- didate for the nomination for governor. In 1892 and 1900 was the democratic nominee for justice of the State Su- preme Court of Appeals, receiving 1,000 more votes than any man on his ticket. He was a delegate to the first Democratic State Convention, and for several years chair- man of the State Executive Committee. In the early part of his career he was a member of the State Board of Hos- pitals for the Insane, and was appointed commissioner to assess railroads for taxation. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the Clarksburg and Weston Narrow Gauge Railroad, and was a director and attorney for that road and similarly connected with the Weston & Buckhannon Railroad. Out of the ample fortune he acquired through his pro- fessional and business interests Judge Bennett improved and increased the land holdings of the Bennett family in Lewis County, and was probably the largest owner of farm lands in the county. He had at one time six farms, com- prising over 2,000 acres. Next to his law practice his chief interest was horses. His Riverside farm became widely noted for its blooded cattle and standard bred horses. He also owned a breeding and training farm in Maryland. He was a director of the American Association of Trotting Horse Breeders and the American Trotting Register Asso- ciation, and for years his horses made creditable perform- ances on many tracks throughout the country. In Masonry he was grand master of the Grand Lodge of West Virginia, grand high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, and grand commander of the Grand Commandery. William G. Ben- nett Lodge No. 46, at Walkersville was named for him. Judge William G. Bennett died November 8, 1916. In 1872 he married Alice Brannon, daughter of Judge John and Amanda (Bland) Brannon. Her great-grandfather Brannon was a native of Ireland, served as an American soldier in the Revolutionary war, and her grandfather, Rob- ert Brannon, was a native of Virginia and a soldier in the War of 1812. Judge John Brannon was a brother of Judge Henry Brannon, of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, whose biography appears elsewhere. Judge John Brannon was educated at Winchester, Vir- ginia, was admitted to the bar in 1846, and the following year moved to Weston. He was a member of the Legisla- ture in both Houses before the war, and served as circuit judge from 1872 to 1881. His wife, Amanda Bland, was born in Harrison County, West Virginia, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Newlon) Bland. Thomas Bland set- tled in Lewis County in 1817 and died in 1868. He waa several times in the Legislature, a member of the Con- stitutional Convention of Virginia, was a soldier under General Harrison in the War of 1812, and was the father of Dr. William J. Bland, who served as superintendent of the Insane Hospital at Weston during the '80s. Judge and Mrs. W. G. Bennett were the parents of six children: William G., Jr., who died in infancy; John Brannon; Hunter M. Bennett, who was admitted to the bar in 1903 and is active in practice; William Bland, who supervised the extensive farming interests of the family until his death; Margaret, who was educated at Winchester, Virginia, and at Mrs. Reed's School in New York, and is the wife of Robert Grain, a Baltimore lawyer; and Bertha, who finished her education at Washington, District of Co- lumbia, and is the wife of Dr. George I. Keener. John Brannon Bennett was born at Weston, April 15, 1875. He attended the Episcopal High School at Alexandria, Virginia, Washington and Lee University, Notre Dame University, Indiana, and the University of West Virginia, and graduated LL. B. from West Virginia University in 1896. He was admitted to the bar the same year, and enjoyed an extensive practice until he gave up the bar to take the management of the Bennett Stock Farm of 1,000 acres. While much of the reputation of this farm is due to its standard bred horses it also has one of the best herds in the state of Aberdeen Angus and Holstein dairy cattle. On September 19, 1915, John B. Bennett married Ethel Hayhurst, daughter of a former military man. They have three children: Jonathan M., Margaret Saxton and George Brannon Bennett. Mr. Bennett is affiliated with W. G. Bennett Lodge of Masons at Walkerville, belongs to the Scottish Rite body at Clarksburg, is affiliated with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and follows the family traditions in politics as a democrat.