Evening star., 1941-01-19
Capital SideIights
BIZ Will p. Kennedy.

The story of how President Andrew
Jackson and Senator Thomas H. Benton
of Missouri started out as comrades IN
arms. then fought bitterly-as a result
of which Jackson carried a bullet in his
shoulder until his death-and still later
again became the closest of friends and
political co-Workers has been revived by
Representative Clarence Cannon of Mis-
souri,, author of "Cannon's Precedents
of the House" who calls the attention
of his colleagues to an article on Benton
in the January issue of the Missouri His
torical Review
Benton's father came to America IN
1765 as secretary to the Royal Governor
of the North Carolina Colony. HIS
mother was the niece of Scottish Royal
Governor of Virginia. The future Sena-
tor took a law course at William ana
Mary College, Williamsburg, Va be-
came a member of the Tennessee State
Senate. was aide-de-camp to Gen.
Jackson during the War of 1872. and
later raised his own regiment OF Ten
nessee volunteers. He went to Natchez,
Miss. with Gen. Jackson and later start
ed for Canada. but peace stopped that
mission. Shortly thereafter he had
bitter quarrel with Jackson. While he
was in Washington to secure his COM
mission as lieutenant colonel and per-
forming a favor for Jackson, his brother
Jesse engaged in duel with William
Carroll in which Jackson acted as Car
rolls second Benton was outraged and
he and Jackson quarreled openly. They
met in a hotel in Nashville, Jackson was
wounded in the shoulder, while Benton
fell backward down stairway. The latter
considered himself the victor and broke
the generals small sword in the public
square as a symbol of his triumph. But
the town became too hot for him and he
moved to ST. Louis. then a new town,
where he organized a bank, edited a
newspaper and started in to help direct
the development of the West. Even be-
fore the admission of Missouri as
State, he was elected to the United States
Senate and sat in the Senate and drew
salary for an entire year before he could
be sworn in.
Meanwhile. he had fought two duels
with Charles Lucas. AS result OF the
second duel Lucas died and Benton con-
sidered that the most tragic incident OF
his life. The Jackson Benton feud last
ed for nearly IL years. Then he be-
came "Old Hickory's" strongest sup
porter and right-hand man in the Sem
to uo Af tl,a rocolItInro IN
expunge from the Senate Journal the
resolution of censure on Jackson and
he won the nickname of the Great EX-
punger." He was one of the most far
sighted advocates of development of the
West He was Jackson's legislative lead
er in the United States bank fight. He
stanchly supported the Union in the
notification fight. He was an advocate
of hard money" and sponsored the
change to the l6-to-1 ratio between gold
and silver. During his fight over hard
money he won his sobriquet of old
Bullion" and in turn gave Missouri the
name of Bullion State After involun-
tary retirement from the Senate, Ben
ton, at the age of II was elected to the
House as Missouri compromise Demo-
crat. Later he was an unsuccessful can
didate for Governor, and contributed
several important volumes to national
and State political history. On his death
he was honored by many national lead
ers who had been his bitterest political
friends. The State has presented a
statue of Benton to Statuary Hall in the
Capitol.
Representative William H. Stevenson
of Wisconsin is the son of Maj John
Stevenson, an Indian scout, friend of
Gen. Charles King and Buffalo Bill"
Cody. The present Congressman worked
his way through grade and high schools
peddling papers. He worked his way
through teachers college and law school
after his marriage by teaching high
school