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Hiram Pitt Bennet

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Andrew J. Hanscom
From Volume I of 1907's
Illustrated History of Nebraska
5th Speaker of the Nebraska Territorial House of Representatives
In office
September 21, 1858 – November 4, 1858
Preceded byJames H. Decker
Succeeded bySilas A. Strickland
Personal details
Born(1826-09-02)September 2, 1826
Carthage, Maine
DiedNovember 11, 1914(1914-11-11) (aged 88)
Denver, Colorado
OccupationPolitician

Hiram Pitt Bennet (September 2, 1826 – November 11, 1914) was a Congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State[1]

Biography

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Bennet was born in Carthage, Maine, and moved to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Richland County in 1831. He attended public and private schools in Ohio. Bennet attended the Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, before taking a teaching job in northwestern Missouri in 1850. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851, practicing in western Iowa and later in Glenwood, Iowa. He served as judge of the circuit court of Iowa in 1852.

Bennet moved to the Nebraska Territory in 1854, settled in Nebraska City, and continued the practice of law. He unsuccessfully contested in 1855 as a Republican the election of Bird B. Chapman to the Thirty-fourth Congress. He served as member of the Territorial council in 1856, and as member of the Territorial House of Representatives in 1858, where he served as speaker. Bennet moved to Denver, Colorado in 1859 and continued the practice of law.

Career

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Upon the admission of the Territory to representation, Bennet was elected as a Conservative Republican, a Delegate to the Thirty-seventh Congress. He was the first Territorial Representative for Colorado in 1862.[2] He was reelected to the Thirty-eighth Congress and served from August 19, 1861, to March 3, 1865. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1864. Bennet played an important role in obtaining statehood for Colorado, introducing the first bill on statehood in 1863.

Bennet served as Secretary of State of Colorado in 1867. He was appointed postmaster of Denver, Colorado, on March 26, 1869, and served until May 27, 1874, when a successor was appointed. Bennet served as a member of the first State senate in 1876. He was appointed "State Agent" in 1888, and served until 1895, recovering lands belonging to the State of Colorado which had been wrongfully disposed of.[1]

Death and legacy

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Bennet retired in 1899 and resided in Denver, Colorado, until his death, November 11, 1914. He is interred in Riverside Cemetery.[3]

The town of Bennett, Colorado was named for Bennet.[2][4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Biographical Directory of the United States Congress". Bennet, Hiram Pitt, (1826 - 1914). Retrieved August 30, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Town History". State of Colorado. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  3. ^ Friends of Riverside Cemetery
  4. ^ Dawson, John Frank (1954). Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 9.
[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
office created
 Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from Colorado
1861–1865 		Succeeded by

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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