Biography

07/06/1833 - 08/11/1918

MEYERS, Benjamin Franklin, a Representative from Bedford County; born, July 6, 1833 in New Centreville, Somerset County, Pa.; attended, Somerset Academy; attended, Jefferson College (now Washington and Jefferson College); teacher; studied law under General William H. Koontz; attorney (1855-1918); chair, Democratic Executive Committee of Somerset County (1857); publisher and editor, Bedford Gazette (1857-1874); elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1863; not a candidate for reelection to the House (1864); elected, delegate, Democratic National Convention (1864, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900); proprietor, publisher and editor, The Morning Patriot, Harrisburg, Pa. (1868-1870); proprietor, publisher and editor, The Weekly Patriot, Harrisburg, Pa. (1868-1870); proprietor and editor, The Daily Morning Patriot, Harrisburg, Pa. (1871-1875); elected, United States Congress (1871-1872); unsuccessful campaign, reelection to Congress (1872); state printer, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1874-1877); postmaster, United States Postal Service, Harrisburg, Pa. (1887-1892); proprietor and publisher, The Star-Independent, Harrisburg, Pa. (1891-1917); died, August 11, 1918 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interred, Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.