[Benjamin Gratz]. American statesman and soldier, born in Lexington, KY, on the 28th of May 1826; died in St. Louis, MO, on the 13th of December 1885. He was graduated at the Transylvania University, in his native city, in 1845, and at Yale in 1847; studied law at Louisville, and about 1850 took up his residence in St. Louis. He was a member of the Missouri legislature from 1852 to 1858, during which time he established the Missouri Democrat, which advocated Republican sentiments. During the Civil War he favored the Union; raised a regiment, afterward commanding a brigade of militia. From 1863 to 1867 he was United States Senator from Missouri, and in 1870 was elected governor of the state. In 1872 he was candidate for Vice-President on the Greeley ticket.
