Trice Cowan Bennett (1886-1944)

From the Crittenden Recorder Press, November 6, 1913.

  Kentucky native Trice Cowan Bennett found distinction at the county bar at a young age, being just 26 years old when he was elected as County Attorney for Crittenden County. After serving four years in office, Bennett briefly worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. before returning to political life, winning election as Commonwealth's Attorney for Kentucky's 4th Judicial District. A member of several fraternal groups in his region, Bennett continued prominence in Crittenden County until his death in a one-vehicle accident in February 1944.

  The youngest son of Adoniram Judson and Bettie (Wallace) Bennett, Trice Cowan Bennett was born near Tolu, Kentucky on December 11, 1886. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Tolu and Marion, Kentucky, and graduated in 1904 from the Marion High School. Deciding to pursue a career in law, Bennett enrolled at the Central University of Kentucky and in 1907 graduated with his bachelor of laws degree. Bennett married in Kentucky in June 1908 to Mildred Haynes (1886-1912). The couple was married only briefly before her death from tuberculosis, and this marriage produced two children, Mary Elizabeth (born 1910) and Mildred (1912-1988).

  Following graduation, Bennett relocated to Marietta in the Oklahoma Territory to begin practice, and for four years (1907-11) operated in the territory's southern district. He removed back to Crittenden County in late 1911 due to his wife's illness and established his practice in Marion. After his wife's death in 1912 Bennett pressed on and in the following year announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Crittenden County Attorney. News of his candidacy reached his former home in Love County, Oklahoma, which remarked that Bennett:

"Was considered one of the brightest young lawyers in the state and enjoyed a large practice. He was employed in some of the most noted civil and criminal cases ever tried in the county and always won out. He was ademocrat of the truest southern type and was always amongst the first of the democratic ranks."

From the Crittenden Recorder Press, October 23, 1913.

  On election day in November 1913 Bennett won the post of County Attorney with a majority of 261 votes "the largest ever given any democrat in the history of County's politics." Taking office in 1914, Bennett served until 1918, and remarried during his term in 1915 to Ida Lou Ramage (1888-1935), who he also survived. In 1918 Bennett left Kentucky for Washington, D.C., where for a brief period he was in the service of the federal government's "legal division."

   Bennett's non political activities include his directorship of the Pinnacle Leasing and Development Co. in Marion and was a leading club-man in his region, holding memberships in the Bingham Lodge No. 256 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Rosewood Camp No. 22 of the Woodmen of the World. He was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Marion.

  In November 1921 Trice Bennett was elected as Commonwealth's Attorney for Kentucky's 4th judicial district, an area comprising the counties of Caldwell, Crittenden, Hopkins, and Livingston. Bennett's six year tenure (1922-28) saw him serving alongside another oddly named political figure, circuit court judge Ruby Laffoon (1869-1941), who would go on to win election as Governor of Kentucky in 1930. In June 1935 Trice Bennett suffered the death of his second wife Ida Lou, who died at home of a stroke. Sometime later Bennett married for a third time, taking as his bride Lula Ellen Sherfield Tackwell (1891-1974), a widow with two children from a previous marriage. 

  Bennett continued in the practice of law until his death in an automobile accident on February 16, 1944. While en route to Louisville, Bennett lost control of his vehicle on an icy stretch of highway near Waverly, Kentucky. The car subsequently left the road and crashed into a nearby ditch, with Bennett's body being discovered in the back seat. He succumbed to his injuries a few hours later at a hospital in Morganfield, Kentucky. He was later interred at the Mapleview Cemetery in Marion, the same resting place as his first and second wives.

From the Princeton Leader, February 17, 1944.

From the Danville Adocate Messenger, February 21, 1944.