Stephen Benton Elkins American industrialist and politician Date of Birth: 26.09.1841 Country: USA

1. Biography of Stephen Benton Elkins
2. Early Life and Education
3. Civil War and Military Service
4. Political and Legal Career
5. Land Grant Scandal and Later Career

Biography of Stephen Benton Elkins

Stephen Benton Elkins was an American industrialist and politician who served as the Secretary of War from 1891 to 1893. He was a representative for New Mexico and a senator for West Virginia.

Early Life and Education

Stephen Benton Elkins was born on September 26, 1841, in New Lexington, Ohio, and later moved with his family to Westport, Missouri, which is now part of Kansas City, in the mid-1840s. Elkins studied at Masonic College in Lexington in the 1850s and then graduated from the University of Missouri in Columbia. He briefly worked as a teacher, with one of his students being Cole Younger, a Confederate partisan during the Civil War.

Civil War and Military Service

During the Civil War, Elkins' father and brother joined the Confederate army under the command of Sterling Price, while Elkins himself joined the Union army. He narrowly escaped death twice at the hands of Quantrill's Raiders, thanks to his father and brother. Elkins witnessed the infamous raiders, including Cole Younger, Dick Yager, George M. Todd, and others, who were sons of farmers from the area where he lived. Elkins joined the Union army as a captain of the 77th Missouri Infantry Militia. He served under the command of Kersey Coates and participated in the Battle of Lone Jack. The horrors he witnessed during this battle solidified his aversion to war.

Political and Legal Career

After the war, Elkins pursued a legal career in Mesilla, New Mexico. From 1864 to 1865, he was elected to the territorial legislature, and from 1866 to 1867, he served as the territorial district attorney. He married Sarah Simms Jacobs on June 10, 1866. After a year as the territorial attorney, Elkins became the U.S. district attorney from 1867 to 1870. He was elected as a territorial representative to Congress in 1872, and was reelected in 1874. In 1875, he married his second wife, Hallie Davis. Elkins then founded the Santa Fe National Bank and served as its president.

Land Grant Scandal and Later Career

Elkins, along with his brother-in-law Thomas B. Catron, was involved in one of the largest land grant scandals in U.S. history. Using his influence, Elkins illegally obtained the rights to land grants that were originally given to Spanish and Mexican settlers. This action violated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Elkins served as the Secretary of War in Benjamin Harrison's administration from December 17, 1891, to March 5, 1893. Afterward, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1895, representing the interests of West Virginia. He was reelected twice and remained a senator until his death in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1911.