Willis Benson Machen (April 10, 1810 – September 29, 1893) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Early life Willis Benson Machen was born the son of Henry Ballenger Machen and Nancy Machen (née Tarrant) on April 10, 1810 in Caldwell County, Kentucky (now Lyon County, Kentucky). He attended the common schools of the area and became a farmer. Machen attended Cumberland College in Princeton, and then engaged in agricultural pursuits near Eddyville. In addition to farming, Machen worked at the Livingston iron forge. Soon, he and a partner opened their own business, but it failed and nearly led Machen to financial ruin. Eventually, he was able to repay his debts, and he began building turnpikes. An injury forced him to abandon that course as well, so he turned to the practice of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1844 and quickly built up a large clientele. Machen was married three times and was widowed twice. Machen married, first, Margaret Aurelia Lyon (1819–1852), daughter of U.S. Representative Chittenden Lyon and granddaughter of U.S. Representative Colonel Matthew Lyon, on December 28, 1835. They had at least six children: a daughter, Mary J. Machen (1838–1854) and five sons, Edward Chittenden Machen (1840–1845), Henry Lyon Machen (1843–1893), Edward C. Machen (1846–after 1887), Willis Benson Machen Jr. (1849–1851) and Willis Benson Machen III (1851–1852). His wife died in 1852 and in the same year he married his second wife Eliza N. Dobbins (1829–1859). They had three children: one son, John S. Machen and two daughters, Mary E. Machen and Elizabeth Machen. He was again widowed in 1859. He married thirdly Victoria Theresa Mims (1838–1895), daughter of John Harrison Mims and Caroline Hanson (Cresap) Mims, on September 10, 1859. They had eight children (at least three died in childhood): sons, Frank P. Machen, Willis B. Machen (IV) (1872–1903), Charles Victor Machen and Albert Sidney Machen (1875–1876) and daughters, Minerva Buckner "Minnie" (Machen) Sayre (1860–1958) (the wife of Anthony D. Sayre and mother of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald), Maggie Davis Machen (1862-1864), Caroline Mims Machen (1874–1874) and Marjorie Lee (Machen) Rieke (1881–1913). Political career Machen was delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1849, was a member of the Kentucky Senate in 1854, and was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1856 and 1860. When a group of secessionist Kentuckians formed a Confederate government for the state, the Kentucky Confederate legislative council