Ben JOHNSON, Congress, KY (1858-1950)
JOHNSON, Ben, a Representative from Kentucky; born near Bardstown, Nelson County, Ky., May 20, 1858; pursued preparatory studies; was graduated from St. Maryâs College, Marion County, Ky., in June 1878 and from the Louisville Law University in 1882; was admitted to the bar in 1882 and commenced practice in Bardstown; member of the State house of representatives in 1885 and 1887, serving as speaker in the latter year; appointed by President Cleveland collector of internal revenue for the fifth Kentucky district on July 10, 1893, and served until August 10, 1897; member of the State senate from 1905 until his resignation on November 5, 1906; elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1927); chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Sixty-second through Sixty-fifth Congresses); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1926; delegate at large to the Democratic National Conventions in 1912 and 1920; resumed the practice of law; died in Bardstown, Ky., June 4, 1950; interment in St. Josephâs Cemetery.
Bibliography
Klotter, James C., and John W. Muir. âBoss Ben Johnson, the Highway Commission, and Kentucky Politics, 1927-1937.â Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 84 (Winter 1986): 18-50.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
