Thomas Hart Benton, Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum Stop 33 Historic Tour Line

Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum is a key cultural institution in St. Louis, offering visitors a beautiful atmosphere for exploring history, art, architecture, and nature. We have a 3.7-mile newly painted line to follow while in your car, on your bike, or on foot for your self-guided tour. Maps are available outside of our cemetery office, highlighting 38 historic stops along this tour line.

Stop 33 on the tour line belongs to Thomas Hart Benton. Thomas was born on March 14, 1782, near Hillsborough, North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he established a law practice and plantation near Nashville, Tennessee. He served as an aide to General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri in 1815. He became editor of the St. Louis Enquirer in 1818 through 1820.


The Missouri Compromise of 1820 made the territory into a state. In 1821, Thomas won election as one of Missouri’s inaugural pair of United States Senators. Nicknamed “Old Bullion,” Thomas was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause known as Manifest Destiny. Thomas became a Democratic leader in the Senate, serving as an important ally of President Jackson and President Martin Van Buren. Thomas held his Senate seat until 1851, becoming the first member to serve five terms. After leaving the Senate, Thomas won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1852, but his opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act led to his defeat in 1854.


In 1854, Thomas published his autobiography, “Thirty Years' View”. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1855. Thomas ran for Governor of Missouri in 1856 but lost to Trusten Polk.


Thomas died in Washington D.C. on April 10, 1858, and is buried here at Bellefontaine Cemetery. His descendants have continued to be prominent in Missouri life; his great-grandnephew, also Thomas Hart Benton, was a 20th-century painter.


Seven states (Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington) have counties named after Thomas Benton. Bentonville, Indiana, was named for the senator as were the towns of Benton & Bentonville, Arkansas, Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Benton, Illinois. Additionally, the fur trading post and now community of Fort Benton, Montana, for which bentonite is named, was named after Thomas. Two counties—Calhoun County, Alabama and Hernando County, Florida—were formerly named Benton County in his honor.


Thomas has been the subject of biographical study by two men who later became presidents of the United States. In 1887, Theodore Roosevelt published a biography of Thomas. He is also one of the eight senators profiled in John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage”.


To learn more, please watch this short video about Thomas Hart Benton, stop #33 on Bellefontaine Cemetery's historic tour line. Sign up to receive more information about the history of BCA. https://bellefontainecemetery.org/vid....


Photos and information for this post courtesy of the web and BCA files.