Family Connections
Benton was related by marriage or blood to a number of 19th Century luminaries. Two of his nephews—Confederate Colonel and posthumous Brigadier General Samuel Benton of Mississippi and Union Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Thomas H. Benton, Jr. of Iowa—fought on opposite sides during the Civil War. He was brother-in-law of Senator/Governor James McDowell of Virginia; father-in-law of explorer, Union Major General, and presidential candidate John C. Frémont; and cousin-in-law of Senators Henry Clay and James Brown, both of whom married cousins of Benton. His nephew was Congressman Maecenas Eason Benton, the father of painter Thomas Hart Benton.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Hart Benton (politician)
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