vicinity, and manufactured iron during the year. At the beginning of the century he had increased his phint by the erection of a grist-mill, and had begun the building of a larger forge, afterward adding a nail-mill, furnaces, and other improvements. The development of the iron industry in the western part of Pennsylvania is largely due to his enterprise. The output from his works was packed on horses and sent to Pittsburg, where for many years he enjoyed, without competition, the trade in what he called "Juniata iron." The borough of Bellefonte was greatly indebted to his enterprise and liberality. He acquired a large property, and built some of the finest residences in the town. He also contributed largely for the building of the water-works. In politics he was a democrat and was twice a presidential elector, notably on the Jackson-Calhoun ticket of 1824. In 1827 he established the "Centre Democrat" at Bellefonte, in the interest of Gen. Jackson. He was major-general of the Pennsvlvania militia, and left a valuable estate.
BENNET, Orlando, wrecker, b. in Ithaca, N.
Y., 4 Oct., 1818; d. in Bellport, Long Island, N. Y., 10 July, 1880. He was associated with his father, Phineas Bennet, and William D. Andrews, in a
company engaged in the recovery of indestructible goods from wrecks. In this work he succeeded in raising two steamers which had been sunk in sixty feet of water in the North river, and recovered a
cargo of quicksilver from a wreck covered by
many feet of sand. During the civil war he was
employed by the U. S. government to clear the
harbors of Charleston and Savannah from monitors,
torpedoes, and other obstructions. By this means
a sea-way was opened to supply Gen. William T.
Sherman's army after its march to the sea.
BENNET, or BENNETT, Richard, colonial
governor of Virginia in the 17th century. He was a Virginia planter who, with William Clayborne, was appointed by the "Long parliament" in 1651
to act with English commissioners in reconciling the colony to the administration of Oliver Cromwell in England. Many of the colonists favored the Stuarts, and the parliament wisely sought to conciliate rather than coerce them. Bennet was a Roundhead, as was also his fellow-commissioner. All opposition did not disappear, however, until
the British frigate "Guinea" arrived, in March, 1652, with orders to carry out the instructions of the commissioners, and if necessary to enforce the
authority of parliament. Virtual independence was, in fact, guaranteed to Virginia, and it was agreed that the people should have all the liberties
of free-born Englishmen, should enact their own
laws, should remain unquestioned as to their past
loyalty, and should have " as free trade as the people of England." So much was granted by parliament, but an article confirming her ancient bounds,
prohibiting taxation without representation, and
agreeing that no forts should be erected without
the consent of the colony, was never approved.
Until the restoration, Virginia was nominally independent, although actually under the rule of the commissioners. The executive officer became elective, and Bennet was chosen governor. Members of the house of burgesses were required to take oath that they would especially provide for the "general good and prosperity" of Virginia and its inhabitants. Gov. Bennet had been treated oppressively by the late royalist governor. Sir William Berkeley, but nobly refrained from taking the revenge that was made easy by his official position. Under Bennet's administration the house of burgesses
claimed the right to define the powers of the governor and council, and declared "that the right of electing all the officers of this colony should appertain to the burgesses as the representatives of the
people." Maryland was not so easily pacified, being
more aggressively loyal, and Bennet with Clayborne went over in the "Guinea" frigate with the
English commissioners, and enforced submission.
In 1654 the Maryland royalists or proprietaries,
under the instigation of Lord Baltimore, again
revolted, and overthrew the parliamentarians, and
intercolonial hostilities followed by land and sea,
resulting in victory for the Virginians under Gov.
Bennet. The decisive action took place on 25
March, 1655, and many prisoners, including the
royalist Gov. Stone, were taken captive. At least
four of these were executed. During the same
year Gov. Bennet retired from public life.
BENNETT, Charles Wesley, educator, b. in
East Bethany, N. Y., 18 July, 1828 ; d. in Evanston, Ill., 17 April, 1891. He was graduated, and, after teaching for several years, became a Methodist
minister in 1862. In 1864 he resumed teaching as
principal of the Genesee Wesleyan seminary at
Lima, N. Y. Prom 1866 till 1869 he studied in the
university of Berlin, Germany, and, after preaching two years, became, in 1871, professor of history
and logic in Syracuse university. From 1872 till
1876 he was art editor of the "Ladies' Repository,"
and after that of the "National Repository." He
published, besides reports, lectures, and numerous
contributions to reviews and encyclopædias, "A
Digest of the Laws and Resolutions of Congress
relative to Pensions, Bounty-Lands, Pay of the Army, etc., with Complete Forms of Application" (Washington, 1854), and "National Education in
Italy, France, Germany, England, and Wales, popularly considered" (Syracuse, 1879).
BENNETT, De Robigne Mortimer, freethinker, b. in Springfield, N. Y., 26 Dec, 1818; d. in
New York city, 6 Dec, 1882. He received a common-school education at Cooperstown, N. Y., and in September, 1833, became a Shaker and settled
in New Lebanon, N. Y., where he remained for
thirteen years, studying and practising medicine.
In 1846 he, with several others, decided to leave
the community, and subsequently was engaged
in business pursuits. Later he became an out-spoken freethinker, and in 1873 established "The Truth-Seeker," in which he combated with vigor
what he considered the errors of orthodox theology. From 1877 until his death he was persecuted for his radical opinions. He was arrested three times, and for a year was confined in the Albany penitentiary, having been convicted of selling an obscene book. A petition bearing 200,000 names, and asking for his release, was sent to President Hayes,
who failed to act on it. The freethinkers of the
United States erected a fine monument to his
memory in Greenwood cemetery. He published
numerous works, among which were " The World's
Sages, Thinkers, and Reformers" (New York, 1876); "Champions of the Church" (1880); "The Gods and Religions of Ancient and Modern Times" (1881); "From Behind the Bars" (1881)—the last two were written in prison; "An Infidel Abroad" (1881); and "A Truth-Seeker Around the World " (4 vols., 1882).
BENNETT, Emerson, author, b. in Monson, Hampden co., Mass., 16 March, 1822. His father died in 1835, and after remaining three years longer on the homestead farm young Bennett prepared for college, but at the age of seventeen went to New York city, where he published a poem called "The Brigand," in an Odd-Fellows' journal. After visiting Philadelphia and Baltimore, he went to Cincinnati, where he first became travel-
