Allan L. Benson
| Allan Benson | |
|---|---|
_circa_1915.jpg) |
|
| Born |
November 6, 1871 Plainfield, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died |
August 19, 1940 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Political party |
Socialist (Pre-1918) Social Democratic League of America (1918 onwards) |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Hugh |
| Children | 4 |
Socialist (Pre-1918)
Allan Louis Benson (November 6, 1871 – August 19, 1940) was an American newspaper editor and author who ran for president as the Socialist Party of America candidate in 1916.
Benson was born in Plainfield, Michigan, on November 6, 1871. His father, Adelbert L. Benson, was a factory worker during Allan's boyhood, later becoming a miller, while his mother, Rose Morris Benson, died when Allan was an infant. Allan lived until he was 12 with his grandfather, a farmer in Silver Creek, Michigan.
At the age of 15, Benson's father's mill burned and he was forced to give up his aspiration of attending college and becoming a lawyer. Benson left home and took a job in a chair factory, later working in a paper mill.
Benson only attended one year of high school, but he nevertheless took the state examination to become a school teacher and passed, earning a certificate to teach in a district school. He became involved in a physical conflict with some farm boys in the first school to which he was assigned and was apparently forced to resign his post.
In April 1891, Benson left Otsego, Michigan, for Detroit, where he went to work for the Peninsular Car Company as a machine hand. He began to regularly visit the offices of the various Detroit newspapers in search of a position and was finally hired as a reporter, earning the starvation wage of $6 a week.
Benson moved to Ann Arbor in the fall of 1891 to assume the position of managing editor of the Washetaw Daily Times. He continued to move up the ranks of the newspaper profession, moving to a position as telegraph editor of the Chicago Inter-Ocean in the spring of 1892. He later worked as telegraph editor of the Salt Lake Tribune and as a writer in San Francisco.
Benson subsequently worked as managing editor of the Detroit Journal, the Detroit Times, and the Washington Times. He married Mary Hugh in Windsor, Ontario on November 19, 1899 and had four children.
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