Benjamin Franklin Welty (1870-1962) - Find a Grave Memorial

US Congressman. Elected as a Democrat to represent Ohio's 4th District in the United States House of Representatives, he served from 1917 to 1921. He graduated from Ohio Northern University in 1894 and from the University of Michigan, College of Law, in 1896. He was admitted to the bar in Ohio and practiced as an attorney in Lima, Ohio. He served as a Private with the United States Army during the Spanish American War and later became a Lieutenant Colonel with the Ohio National Guard. He was appointed as the prosecuting attorney of Allen County from 1905 to 1910. He was elected to Congress in 1916 and reelected in 1918. He was a proponent of turning Ohio's canals into transportation routes for barges. The plan failed because of the costs of having to widen the existing canals to accommodate barges. He was not reelected in 1920, and lost election again in 1926. He continued his law practice in Lima, Ohio for nearly 30 years until he retired in 1951.

Bio by: K Guy