This is the final installment of the article on John Benton and his models. In January 1881, Ericsson’s checkbooks record a payment of $509.15 from Tiffany & Company, and thereafter there is no further reference in the checkbooks to the Benton model. Presumably the payment reflected the value of the gold found when the model was melted. Ericsson’s biographer William Conant Church stated in his 1890 biography of Ericsson:

Some of the leading engineering establishments and shipbuilding firms also presented a magnificent model of the Monitor made of gold, weighing upward of fourteen pounds and costing $7,000. The entire detail of the turret, the machinery, etc., was represented in this model. It proved a white elephant, however, as its presentation established a “claim” upon the part of the artist, and after expending $4,000 in answering these demands, and in keeping this valuable piece of plate insured, Captain Ericsson finally sent it to the goldsmith’s to be melted up. It yielded $600 for its metal and the proceeds were devoted to charity.

Clearly Ericsson believed that he had been cheated by Benton, though if Benton cheated anyone it was the group of shipbuilding firms which had paid to have the monitor created. But not all of Church’s facts may be accurate, as Ericsson’s checkbooks show only two payments to Benson, totaling $1,500 in late 1863. Both payments were made against a mortgage given by Benton on real estate which has not been identified. By May 1864, Benton had apparently repaid the entire amount with significant interest. The monitor model for John Ericsson was unveiled by Benton in late July 1863, when both the Delaware State and Statesman in Wilmington and the Providence Daily Journal reported on July 21st that the model had been finished. The Delaware newspaper stated: A Handsome Present.

John D. Benton, of this city, has manufactured for a member of builders of iron vessels, a model of a Monitor, made out of pure gold which they design to present to Captain Ericsson. It is 25 inches long, 5 ½ inches wide, and 1 ¾ inches deep, and is modeled on a scale of 1/8 of an inch to a foot. It resembles the Monitor vessel in every particular except size. It has a revolving turret, with guns in it, a smoke pipe, binnacle, steam whistle, &c. The machinery which turns the turret, also sets an organ in motion, which plays four tunes – Yankee Doodle, Star Spangled Banner, Life on the Ocean, and a National air of Sweden, the birth-place of Capt. Ericsson. The cost of the model was $7,000. It is a fine piece of workmanship. Similar information was published in the Boston Daily Evening Transcript on July 22nd, and in the New York World on July 24th. The New York Harold and New York Times both published a brief account of Benson’s model on July 25th. The New York Times notice mentioned that the model was to be exhibited at Fort Hamilton on Long Island on July 26th. In August 1863 the Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review published an account of the monitor model, and Epes Sargent, the author of the words to the song “A Life on the Ocean Wave,” wrote to John Ericsson stating that he had read an account of the model, and added: “So you will have something perforce to remember me by.” Later in August, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper also mentioned the monitor model. Benton himself apparently made the presentation of this model to Ericsson, but the date of that presentation is unknown.

Benton was apparently addicted to gambling in the form of purchasing lottery tickets. Several of his obituaries emphasized this personal habit, and pointed out that he died penniless. Benton certainly left no will when he died in East Providence on October 18, 1890, and no estate was recorded for probate purposes. Benton was survived by his widow, who lived until 1913, a married daughter, and three grandchildren. Benton’s precise financial circumstances at his death cannot now be determined, but prior to his death he was receiving $72 monthly as a federal pension for his Civil War service. He was also stated to have had a group of coin-operated models in various locations around New England, from which he received an additional income. The only document known to be in Benton’s handwriting outside of his Civil War pension application is a small piece of paper in an autograph album probably compiled in Washington in 1878-1879. This document states that Benton’s Woodruff Palace Car model and his Pullman Palace Car model had been shown at the Centennial Exhibition. Both of these models are individually listed in the official catalogue for the Centennial Exhibition. It is likely that Benton had been in Washington as one of the temporary workmen hired to repair Patent Office models damaged in a major fire in September 1877; two January 1878 vouchers for payments to Benton for tools and equipment needed for this purpose survive among the Patent Office records.

Benton was an extraordinarily important American craftsman, and his lfe has been undocumented for much too long. This information is extracted from a contemplated biography of Benton. The author would greatly appreciate corrections and additional information at: sndesq@starpower.net.

(Ed. Note – This concludes the article on the life and models of John Dean Benson. Thanks to Clyde Emerson for sharing this with us.)