George S. Benson

George S. Benson was born in Benson, Vermont in March 1845.¹ He fought in the Civil War with Company C of the 9th Vermont Infantry from 1862 through 1865.² After the war, he worked as a publisher in New York.³ Benson worked at the White House from at least 1903 through 1905 as an usher. Government records state he was appointed from New York, but offer no other information on how he received this job.⁴ As an usher, Benson worked under Chief Usher Thomas E. Stone to greet visitors, escort them throughout the White House, and provide security. 

Outside of his work at the White House, Benson was a leader in his local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Civil War veterans from the Union Army.⁵ On Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in 1905, Benson helped organize a “patriotic demonstration” at the National Theater in Washington, D.C., complete with a concert by the Marine Band and speeches.⁶ He also served as chairman of the Lincoln Memorial Committee, formed to raise money to build the Lincoln Memorial, and organized a fundraiser to place pictures of Abraham Lincoln in every public school classroom in D.C., even donating $500 of his own money to the initiative.⁷ 

It is unknown exactly when or why Benson left the White House, but he likely did so due to old age. In 1909 he was admitted to the Southern Branch of the National Soldiers Home in Hampton, Virginia, a community for elderly or disabled veterans.⁸ There, he worked as the community’s librarian.⁹ In 1919, he transferred to a veterans hospital in Kennebec, Maine.¹⁰ He passed away on June 6, 1921 and was buried in Togus National Cemetery in Maine.¹¹