The Green Bag VOL. XVIII.
No. ii
BOSTON
NOVEMBER, 1906
THOMAS H. BENTON AS A LAWYER BY EUGENE L. DIDIER WHEN the wilderness was king, and the fair land of Tennessee was over run by hordes of lurking Indians, a small body of pioneers from North Carolina crossed the mountains and settled near Nashville, Tennessee. In the party were the widow Benton and her son, Thomas H. Benton. They had inherited a large tract of land from the elder Benton, who had been a lawyer in good standing in North Caro lina. The father died when the son was only eight years old, and the boy's educa tion was begun by his mother, who pos sessed a much broader mental cultivation than was usual at that time and place. She taught her son history and biography, and he thus acquired a taste for reading and study which never left him in all his subsequent busy public life. After the pre liminary studies he entered the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, but had been there a short time only when the removal to Tennessee put a stop to his college education. Having decided to study law he found in his father's library the necessary books for that purpose, and he went to work with energy, at the same time teaching a country school. In the course of time he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in a log house in the wild frontier town of Franklin. It was a lawless, rough, coarse, brawling set among whom the future senator and statesman was thrown in his early manhood. Physically, they were a splendid body of men — brave, daring, free, and independent; mentally, they were uneducated, unrefined, uncouth. Benton was far superior to the backwoodsmen both in mind and breeding,
and in all the higher attributes of the class he was a magnificent representative of the strong, hardy, daring pioneers of Tennessee. His masterful mind and fearless soul marked him as a natural leader among those halfsavage men. Dueling was the most refined way of settling disputes among the better class, while street fights, in which lawyers, politicians, and even judges participated, were of daily occurrence. Of these Benton had Jais share. Like his friend, General Jackson, he knew not the meaning of the word fear, and being quick, fiery, and spirited, he had many affairs of honor and tavern brawls. Like Jackson he fought his way, first through the bar and afterwards through politics, reaching a commanding position in both. After the War of 1812, in which he was a colonel, Benton crossed the Mississippi and took up his permanent residence in the then territory of Missouri, in the FrenchAmerican-Spanish city of St. Louis. Mis souri was at that time the western border of civilization, or, rather, beyond the border of civilization. The people were very "wes tern" in their habits. Success depended as much, if not more, upon push, pluck, audac ity, and personal courage, as upon a knowl edge of the law and experience at the bar. Judges rode to court armed to the teeth, carrying enormous pistols, and long, dan gerous, murderous-looking knives, which were freely used upon the slightest provo cation. Court week was the favorite time for persons to settle their quarrels, and the judge adjourned the court to allow the lawyers, and others, including his Honor, to witness the fight.
