Born near Dyersburg , Tennessee , Benton attended two west Tennessee academies and Saint Louis University . He was graduated from the Cumberland School of Law at Cumberland University , Lebanon , Tennessee , in 1870 . He served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War . He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Neosho , Missouri . He served as prosecuting attorney of Newton County , Missouri , from 1878 to 1884 and subsequently the United States attorney from March 1885 to July 1889 . He also served as delegate to the 1896 Democratic National Convention . On June 24 , 1888 he married Elizabeth Wise of Waxahachie , Texas
1896 Democratic National Convention
1896 Democratic National Convention
Maecenas Eason Benton