Granville G. Bennett

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Granville G. Bennett
Bennett in 1899
Member of Iowa House of Representatives
In office 1865–1867
Member of Iowa State Senate
In office 1867–1871
Delegate of the Territory of Dakota to the United States Congress
In office March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881
Personal details
Born	Granville Gaylord Bennett (1833-10-09)October 9, 1833 Near Bloomingburg, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 28, 1910(1910-06-28) (aged 76) Hot Springs, South Dakota, U.S.
Resting place	Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, South Dakota, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Mary Dawson
Children	4
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1861 – 1865
Rank	First Lieutenant

Granville Gaylord Bennett (October 9, 1833 – June 28, 1910) was an American lawyer who served as a justice of the Supreme Court for the Dakota Territory and as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives. He was the presiding judge at the trial of Jack McCall for the Aug. 2,1876 murder of Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, Dakota Territory. This trial was held in Yankton, the then headquarters of the Territory. Judge Bennett later was assigned to Lawrence county and moved his family there.

Granville was born near Bloomingburg in Fayette County, Ohio. His family moved to Fulton County, Illinois in 1849, and then to Washington, Iowa in 1855.^[1] He attended Washington College, an academy in Washington, Iowa, and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, and practiced in Washington.^[1] In 1860, he married Mary Dawson.^[2] They were the parents of three children who survived to adulthood; daughters Estelline Rea Bennett (1868 – 1948), author of OLD DEADWOOD DAYS, and Helen Marie Bennett (1872 – 1962), an American journalist, businesswoman, and writer who organized the four women's world's fairs of the 1920s, and son The Right Reverend Granville Gaylord Bennett D.D. (1882 – 1975), the second Bishop of Duluth and the eighth Bishop of Rhode Island in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Another son, Robert Dawson Bennett (1878 – 1892) was killed in a hunting accident at age 14 outside of Deadwood, South Dakota.

During the American Civil War he served in the Union Army, first as an officer in the 19th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and later on the staff of Thomas J. McKean, commander of the Army of the Tennessee. Following the war, he was discharged as a first lieutenant and returned to Washington, Iowa. He served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives (1865–1867) and Iowa State Senate (1867–1871).^[1]

Bennett moved to the Dakota Territory in the early 1870s. He was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory in 1875, and he served until 1878. In 1878, he was elected as the Territory's Delegate to the U.S. Congress, and served as a Republican from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1881. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1880.

After his term in Congress, Bennett returned to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he continued to practice law. In 1902, he was elected judge of the Lawrence County Court, and he served three terms. He died in Hot Springs, Fall River County, South Dakota. He was interred in Mount Moriah Cemetery, in Deadwood.

Bennett County, South Dakota is thought by some historians to be named in his honor,^[3] whereas others attribute the county name to John E. Bennett, and some claim it honors both men.

• United States Congress. "Granville G. Bennett (id: B000374)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Historical Deadwood Newspaper accounts of Granville Bennett