Benjamin Franklin WELTY, Congress, OH (1870-1962)

WELTY, Benjamin Franklin, a Representative from Ohio; born near Bluffton, Allen County, Ohio, August 9, 1870; attended the common schools and the Tri-State Normal College of Indiana; was graduated from the Ohio Northern University at Ada in 1894 and from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1896; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1896 and commenced practice in Lima, Allen County, Ohio; city solicitor of Bluffton 1897-1909; served as a private during the Spanish-American War; prosecuting attorney of Allen County 1905-1910; lieutenant colonel in the Ohio National Guard 1908-1913; special counsel to the State attorney general 1911-1913; special assistant in the United States Department of Justice 1913-1915; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-fifth and Sixty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1917-March 3, 1921); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1920 to the Sixty-seventh Congress; employed with Inland Waterways Association 1921-1924; resumed the practice of law until 1951, when he retired; died in Dayton, Ohio, October 23, 1962; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery, Shawnee Township, Allen County, Ohio.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present