Who was Benton named after?
By Cody Berry
So, I get lots of questions about Saline County from our patrons and visitors from other states or countries around the world. One of them has to do with the town of Benton and how it got its name. So, who was Benton named after? Well, that would be Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, who is often confused with the popular artist of the same name.
Way back when Arkansas was about to become a state in 1836, Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) was serving in the United States Senate. Benton was born near Hillsborough, North Carolina but after serving in the War of 1812, Benton moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1815 where he worked as an editor of the St. Louis Enquirer until he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1820. He held that office until 1851.1 Benton was supporter of President Andrew Jackson in the Senate but in his youth, the two had once fought in a duel. In fact, Jackson carried a bullet from Benton in his body for the rest of his life. Benton barely avoided being shot during a debate with Mississippi Senator Henry Foote in the Senate Chamber on April 3, 1850.2
So, why was a small town in Arkansas named after a hotheaded Senator from Missouri? On March 15, 1836, the Arkansas Gazette, reported that the town was named “in compliment to Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri.”3 Benton was a big supporter of Arkansas’s statehood. Our first state constitution was ratified by the United States Congress on January 30, 1836. The legislation was sponsored by Senators John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and James Buchanan of Pennsylvania. The act that made Arkansas a state was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on June 15, 1836.4
I had wondered how Thomas Hart Benton helped Arkansas become a state. Sponsoring the legislation creating it is a big deal. Benton’s name was also used in Benton County, which was established on September 30, 1836, and Bentonville’s first post office opened the same year. Both were named after Senator Thomas Hart Benton.5 In the early days when the Arkansas we know was being formed, it wasn’t unusual for towns and counties to be named after influential people. The next time you open a map of Arkansas; see how many famous last names you find.
Citations:
1 The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Thomas Hart Benton.” Encyclopedia Britannica, April 6, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Hart-Benton-American-writer-and-politician. Date Accessed July 15, 2025.
2 United States Senate, “Thomas Hart Benton: A Featured Biography,” https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_Benton.htm, Date Accessed July 15, 2025. And United States Senate, “Bitter Feelings in the Senate Chamber,” https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Bitter_Feelings_In_the_Senate_Chamber.htm, Date Accessed July 15, 2025.
3 Hon. J.S. Utley, “Story of Beginning of Saline County,” Benton Courier – Centennial Edition, March 25, 1937, p. 4-5.
4 Kay C. Goss, “Arkansas Constitutions,” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/arkansas-constitutions-2246/, Date Accessed July 15, 2025.
5 Allyn Lord, “Benton County,” CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/benton-county-748/, Date Accessed July 15, 2025.