History of Cicero, (Onondaga County) New York United States of America

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Biographies:

John Forbes Benjamin, soldier, was born at Cicero, Onondaga county, N.Y., Jan. 23, 1817. In 1845 he removed to Texas, where he remained until 1848, going then to Shelbyville, Mo. He was admitted to the bar, and soon after beginning his practice he was elected to the state legislature, serving in 1850, and again in 1852. He was prominent in politics, holding several local offices, and in 1856 was chosen a Democratic presidential elector. The practice of his profession was interrupted by the civil war, in which he enlisted at its outbreak. He was promoted from a private soldier to the rank of captain, and later to that of major. In the same year, 1862, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel. In 1863 and 1864 he was provost-marshal for the 8th district of his state, and in the latter year was elected a representative to the 39th, and was re-elected and served in the 40th and 41st congresses. He then settled in Washington, D.C., where he resumed his law practice, and conducted a bank. He died in Washington March 8, 1877.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Matilda Joslyn Gage, reformer, was born in Cicero. N.Y., March 24, 1826; daughter of Dr. Hezekiah and Helen (Leslie) Joslyn; and granddaughter of Sir George and Leslie Magdalena Towers. Her mother was born near Edinburgh, Scotland. She attended Hamilton seminary, Deruyter academy, and the Clinton Liberal institute. In 1845 she was married to Henry H. Gage, a merchant in Cicero. N.Y., and shortly afterward began to lecture and write upon anti-slavery and woman suffrage topics. She was corresponding secretary of the New York state woman suffrage society, 1869-70; president of the same nine years; president of the National woman suffrage association, 1875-76, and chairman of the executive committee and its general secretary for many years. In 1878 she was instrumental in the formation of the Woman's national liberal league and was elected its president. In 1888 she was prominent in arranging the International congress of women at Washington. She was a member of the National council of women of the United States and a member of the committee on "The Woman's Bible" to which she was a contributor. She edited and published The National Citizen at Syracuse, N.Y., 1878-81; was one of the editors of the History of Woman Suffrage (1881-87); and is the author of Woman's Rights Catechism (1870); Woman as Inventor (1870); Woman's Declaration of Rights (1876); Who Planned the Tennessee Campaign? (1880); Woman, Church and State (1893); and on her deathbed she wrote: Woman's Demand for Freedom: Its Effect upon the World, which was read at the 50th Anniversary suffrage convention at Washington, D.C., February, 1898. She died in Chicago, Ill., March 18, 1898.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor