Notes:

[S&M.FTW]

[Sam & Martha Benn.FTW]

[Benn1.FTW]

[BENN.ged]

Chasing the wolves of sin and into Seattle's notorious red-light
district, the Tenderloin.
Accompanied by a Salvation Army band, the earnest crusaders sang
hymns as they paced past saloons, brothels, gambling parlors and dance
halls south of Yesler Way. Here, according to one newspaper account,
"sin, vice and crime sneak forth like human wolves only after the sun
goes down." On this April 1905 evening, city clergy along with
"white-haired grandmothers and middle-aged matrons with their
children" had left their comfortable homes to bring a message of
salvation to those who frequented Seattle's "bottomless cauldron of
sin."
Even before the heady Gold Rush days, when boomtown Seattle had
realized that Klondike vice was every bit as profitable as Klondike
outfitting, the city had gained a reputation as a "hot town," where
good times could be had 24 hours a day. Yet as soon as Seattle found
prosperity, respectable citizenry wanted to change its image to a
family town.
Using city hall, churches and courtrooms as their battleground,
the forces of virtue competed with the purveyors of vice for moral
authority over Seattle's soul. It took a decade before a new city
emerged, changed but not entirely converted.

Joining the march in the Tenderloin in 1905
was a man who became one of the most outspoken leaders of social
reform, the Rev. Mark Matthews of Seattle's First Presbyterian Church.
The lanky parson, a striking figure with his 6-foot-5-inch frame and
mane of black hair, preached the gospel of urban righteousness.
Matthews believed that Seattle churches should lead the reform by
influencing public policy to cleanse the city. Matthews launched his
first campaign against sin by exposing what he termed the "symptoms of
graftitis" among local officials. Charging City Council members with
unethical, if not criminal, behavior, Matthews particularly targeted
Council President Hiram Gill, a lawyer who defended the interests of
Tenderloin saloonkeepers and brothel owners. In a packed public
meeting, Matthews dramatically accused Gill of condoning vice, even
leaving a city meeting to bail a notorious gambling operator out of
jail. Despite extensive publicity from The Times and other
newspapers, Matthews' charges had limited impact, and in 1906 Gill
handily won re-election. But Matthews did spearhead the passage of a
City Charter amendment allowing citizens to recall

In 1910 Gill ran for Mayor on a platforn calling for
a district that confined vice to one section of the city. Urged on by
progressive reformers, previous mayors had tried to tame the
Tenderloin by degrees, first outlawing gambling, then imposing strict
tavern hours, and finally shutting down the district altogether. But
their efforts had merely diffused the problem, driving illicit
activities undercover and the city's 400-plus prostitutes to boarding
houses and hotels all over town. Gill argued that vice was a natural
-- and lucrative -- part of the human condition. His strategy for
regulation gained him enough support for election.

Yet horrified reformers soon found that the restricted district
kept expanding. Many blamed Gill's police chief, Charles Wappenstein,
who claimed to be tough on crime but was rumored to overlook illegal
activities in return for kickbacks. Cynics dubbed the Tenderloin
"Wappyville." When Gill refused to fire the chief, moral reformers
joined with good-government advocates to recall the mayor. A Public
Welfare League formed in October 1910 circulated petitions, collecting
enough signatures to force a recall election the following February.
Bolstered by the votes of more than 22,000 women just granted
suffrage, the forces of virtue threw Gill out of office and launched
new efforts to stamp out vice and corruption. Matthews again led the
charge, secretly hiring the renowned William Burns Detective Agency
for an undercover investigation. Burns found enough evidence to
convict Seattle's police chief of bribery and extortion, and send him
to prison. Others who supported Wappy, including outspoken Times
publisher Alden Blethen, also became targets of investigation,
indicted by the grand jury but never convicted.
Reformers took other extreme measures to clean up the city. Most
outrageous was the Purity Squad, a Police Department unit that
patrolled the city looking for illicit activity. Critics charged
overzealous officers with rousting innocent single women from their
hotel rooms or arresting married couples found downtown after dark.
By 1914, reformers believed they were well on their way to making
Seattle a virtuous family town. They declared Seattle had changed.
Perhaps so; but in that same year the resilient Gill ran once more for
mayor. Penitent, Gill claimed he now supported temperance and honest
government. He won election, and soon the Tenderloin was running full
tilt again.

Charles married BENN, Minnie Elizabeth in 1891. Minnie (daughter of BENN, Samuel and REDMAN, Martha) was born on 18 Feb 1871 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington, USA; died on 16 Mar 1965 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington, USA; was buried about Mar 1965 in Seattle, King, Washington, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[S&M.FTW] [Sam & Martha Benn.FTW] [Benn1.FTW] [BENN.ged] Minnie is reported to have been the first white child born in Aberdeen. She was born in the family home on the site of the present (1961) Zalasko Park. Minnie died as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. Funeral services were held in the Chapel of Whiteside Undertaking Co. on Friday, 19 March 1965 at 2:30 p.m. Minnie's cremated remains were put in the grave of her late husband, Charles Wappenstein.

Buried:
Acacia Cemetery

Notes:

[S&M.FTW]

[Sam & Martha Benn.FTW]

[Benn1.FTW]

[BENN.ged]

Going to California to find out what happend to two missing brothers
who were working the goldfields, Sam left New York City aboard the
steamer 'Northern Light' on 5 March 1856 bound for Panama. At Colon
he crossed the isthmus by rail to Balboa. There he boarded the paddle
wheeler 'Sonora' for California, arriving on the 26th of March. When
Sam arrived where his brothers had been mining, he discovered they had
drowned in the Feather River. The river was flooding but they had
gone into town for supplies, but their boat capsized while returning
to camp. In April 1859 Sam and a cousin, George Hubbard, sailed from
California to Victoria, Canada. There they bought a sailboat and
sailed Puget Sound for a month looking for a place to settle. When
they stopped in Olympia they heard of the Chehalis valley and
travelled overland to scout the area. Liking what they found they
returned to Olympia for their boat and supplies needed to settle,
arriving back at their homesteads on June 15, 1859. Sam chose the
south bank while George picked the north bank of the Chehalis. At the
site of the present (1935) Wishkah bridge, Sam founded his first home
on Garys Harbor. Aberdeen, Washington was the town Sam founded. To
help bring the railroad to his town, Sam gave land to any man
providing 5 days labor building the rail line. Land was also given to
anyone who paid for the 5 days labor.
According to his death certificate, Sam died of senility. This
doesn't agree with what Sam's surviving family recalled about him and
what was written in his obituaries printed in the Aberdeen newspapers.
He was noted for having a sharp mind. The headline of 'The Aberdeen
Daily World' (17 Sept. 1935 front page) reads "BENN DEAD; SORROW GRIPS
HARBOR, Father Of Aberdeen Expires Peacefully, Mind Clear To Last"
The obituaries refer to a recent illness (of several months) that
wasn't specified.
The funeral services, officiated by Wm. McDowell, Russel Mack and Rev.
Sylvester Robertson, were held at 2 pm in the First Congregational
church, First and H streets in Aberdeen. Governor Clarence D. Martin
and other state officals came from Olympia to attend the funeral. The
services were broadcast on KXRO radio "to permit those who through
illness or the size of the crowd cannot be present inside the church"
- 'Grays Harbor Washingtonian'. A front page article in the same
paper reported 'City offices, stores and other business places of
Aberdeen will be closed Thursday afternoon from 1:30 to 3:30 o'clock
as a final salute to Aberdeen's "grand old man." '
This year is from the information on his death certificate provided by
his daughter, Leta Benn Brasfield. According to the book "The River
Pioneers", Sam immigrated as an infant which could have been 10+ years
earlier. This earlier date agrees with an article in 'The Daily
World' (Aberdeen, WA; Sunday July 4, 1976; page A-9 column 4).
However one of his obituaries says 'although he left there (Emo,
Queens county, Ireland) as a small boy he could recall the place quite
well, even in his last days.'
Sam renounced his allegiance to the Queen United Kingdom of Great
Britain & Ireland. The witness was William Kingsley (Sam's mother's
maiden name). Sam apparently kept his Irish birth a secret from the
other residents of Aberdeen, except his family who knew. He did show
his naturalization papers to Victor Lindberg, the Aberdeen city
comptroller, who kept his secret joke until Sam's death.
Sam still earned a living as a carpenter. Being sheriff didn't pay
well and took too much time, so Sam didn't keep the job for many
years (The Pacific Coast Directory, 1867 lists Samuel Benn as Chehalis County Sheriff in Montesano, Chehalis, Washington Territory).
Sam was also a volunteer fireman with the Brooklyn Fire Department.
Mayors in Aberdeen serve 1 year terms.
Sam received a telegram from President Herbert Hoover, "Felicitations
and God's continued blessing to Aberdeen's beloved pioneer father from
a grateful nation on the occasion of the centennial of his birth."


Buried:
Fernhill Cemetery

Samuel married REDMAN, Martha on 12 Jan 1862 in Chehalis, Lewis, Washington, USA. Martha was born on 2 Nov 1845 in Iowa, USA; died on 13 Aug 1917 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington, USA; was buried on 17 Aug 1917 in Aberdeen, Grays Harbor, Washington, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[S&M.FTW] [Sam & Martha Benn.FTW] [Benn1.FTW] [BENN.ged] Martha crossed the plains with her family on the Old Oregon Trail in 1852. Source: Samuel Benn obituary in Pacific Northwest Quarterly Vol. 27, Issue 2, 1936, page 175 by John L. Christian and the book - 'The River Pioneers - Early Days on Grays Harbor' by Edwin VanSyckle à 1982 Pacific Search Press. Martha's death certificate lists the cause of her death as acute dilation of heart with a contributory cause of "mitrel stenosis aortic regurgitations". The duration of Martha's condition is noted as 6 months. Martha's obituary in the 14 Aug 'Aberdeen World' read: MRS. SAMUEL BENN PASSES IN SLEEP - Pioneer Woman is Called Suddenly; Crossed Plains in '52; Death Is Shock - Mrs. Samuel Benn, wife of the founder of Aberdeen, a pioneer of the West, who crossed the plains in 1852, when a girl of 8, was found dead in her bed at the Benn home on North G street at 7 o'clock this morning. Mrs. Benn lay as if peacefully sleeping and undoubtedly passed from sleep to death. Heart trouble was the cause of death. She was 72 years old. While Mrs. Benn has been in ill health for several years and was taken to the Aberdeen General hospital several weeks ago for X-ray examination and rest - she was always active, always at work of one sort or another - she had improved so much and had felt so well in recent days that her death came as a surprise and great shock to her family, who had supposed her well on the road to recovery. Her granddaughter, Miss Joan Wappenstein, a nurse of Seattle, who has been in attendance on her for some weeks; had planned to return this morning, considering her services no longer needed.

Buried:
Fernhill Cemetery

Died:
(at home)

Notes:

Married:
St. Williams Church