point, he formed a business partnership with William B. Sellick—Bennett & Sellick. In politics, Bennett was one of the founders of the Kenosha branch of the abolitionist Liberty Party, a forerunner of the Free Soil Party, and, eventually, the Republican Party. The Liberty movement was very influential in the Kenosha-Racine area, which became one of the bastions of the Free Soil Party in the late 1840s, before eventually becoming a Republican stronghold in the early days of that party. In 1858, George Bennett was elected as a Republican to represent Kenosha in the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 1859 session. The next year, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate for 1860 and 1861, representing all of Kenosha County. In the Senate, he was a member of the Committee on Internal Improvements, from which he advocated for building up Kenosha's harbor and constructing a lighthouse. When news of the attack on Fort Sumter reached Wisconsin, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, a meeting was called at the Kenosha courthouse for April 17, 1861. George Bennett was among the prominent men who addressed the assembled citizens and urged them to support the Union cause, along with former U.S. Senator Charles Durkee. Bennett himself was a significant donor to funding and equipping Wisconsin volunteer regiments. Sometime after the civil war, Bennett relocated to Ontario, Illinois, where he continued to work as a merchant. Personal life After the death of his first wife, Maria, he married Julia, the widow of William Bullen. References Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 19th-century American politicians Wisconsin Libertyites People from Kenosha, Wisconsin 1810 births 1888 deaths