| Date |
Excerpt |
| January 23, 1811 |
Benjamin Franklin Massey was born in Kent County, Maryland. |
| 1828 |
Thrown upon his own resources, B.F. Massey went to Philadelphia and worked as a store boy. |
| 1829 |
B.F. Massey returned to Kent County and worked for his elder brother in a country store. |
| July 21, 1831 |
Tired of home surroundings, B.F. Massey migrated to St. Louis, Missouri, arriving there and worked for Joseph and Peter Powell. |
| 1833 or 1834 |
B.F.
Massey took charge of a wagon train from St. Joseph, Missouri to Santa
Fe, Mexico, arriving at Santa Fe in the Fall of 1833 or 1834. He
disposed of the goods, made his way 1,600 miles overland to Vera Crux,
Mexico, took a steamer to New Orleans, Louisiana, thence up-river back
to St. Louis. I do not know whether he made one trip or two.
If he made two trips, he went back home to Kent County in the
Winter. While on this trip home, he was stricken with rheumatism,
and for two years, this early in life, was confined, perfectly helpless,
to his room. Upon recovery, he came West again. Shortly
after returning to St. Louis, his faithful friends, the Powell brothers,
furnished him a store of goods to carry up the river to establish a
business in place of his selection. |
| 1837 |
B.F. Massey chose Fayette, Howard County, Missouri and opened a retail store. |
| 1839 |
Boonville,
Missouri was then the river port for all of Central Missouri and the
only Missouri city of importance outside of St. Louis, and B.F. Massey
went there frequently on business, where he met Miss Maria Hawkins
Withers, who became his wife in 1839. Miss Withers, [who was to
become Benjamin Ulpian Massey's] mother, was born at Warrenton, Virginia
in 1823 and in 1833 came West with her widowed mother, then married to
Col. Peter Pierce of Boonville, Missouri. |
| 1839 |
B.F.
Massey and his wife moved to Sarcoxie, Missouri where he had platted
the village, and he there entered into the Milling and Mercantile
business with one William Tingle. |
| 1844 |
Early in life,, B.F. Massey had become interested in politics, and in 1844 he was elected to the State Senate. |
| 1848 |
B.F. Massey was Chief Clerk of the [Missouri] House of Representatives. |
| 1850 | Before going to California, he was a candidate for State Senator but was defeated. |
| 1850 | B.F. Massey went overland to California, but remained there only a short time. |
| 1851 | B.F. Massey was brought home via the Isthmus of Panama, a helpless invalid again from rheumatism. |
| 1852 | B.F. Massey was an applicant for the office of Secretary of State, then an appointed office. He was promised the job by Gov. Acock, but some hitch occurred and he lost out. |
| 1854 |
Running again for State Senator, B.F. Massey was again defeated. |
| August, 1856 |
B.F.
Massey was elected Secretary of State of Missouri on the Democratic
ticket headed by Trusten Polk, serving three months under Gov. Sterling
Price. |
| October, 1856 |
B.F. Massey was inducted into office as Secretary of State under Gov. Trusten Polk. |
| 1857 |
Trusten
Polk was elected to the U.S. Senate, and Lt. Gov. Hancock Johnson acted
as Governor until R.H. Stuart was elected in 1857. |
| 1860 |
B.F. Massey was re-elected Secvretary of State on the Democratic ticket headed by Gov. Claiborne F. Jackson. |
| 1861 |
The Gov. Jackson Administration was ousted by the "Gamble Convention." |
| Spring, 1862 |
Gov. Jackson died at Des Arc, Arkansas and was succeeded by Thomas C. Reynolds, then Lt. Governor. Gov. Reynolds was running the itinerant Missouri Government in Arkansas, with B.F. Massey as Secretary of State and Benjamin U. Massey as his Chief Clerk. |
| 1863-1864 |
After the War, and before it closed, B.F. Massey lived on a farm in Fayette, Howard County, Missouri. |
| July, 1864 |
Maria
Hawkins Withers Massey died at Boonville, Missouri, the family of B.F.
Massey all scattered and were never all together since. |
| 1864 |
After
the breakup of his family, B.F. Massey farmed some in St. Louis County
and Cooper County, Missouri, and later lived with his son, Frank Massey,
in Neosho, Missouri. |
| 1870 |
After
the "Test Oath" imposed by the Drake Constitution was removed, B.F.
Massey was a candidate for the office of Secretary of State on the
Democratic Ticket, but it was considered too soon for an "ex-Rebel" and
he was defeated for the nomination. |
| 1876 |
B.F.
Massey was elected a member of the State Contsitutional Convention that
was adopted by the People of Missouri. He then edited a weekly
newspaper in Pierce City, Lawrence County, Missouri. |
| 1879 |
B.F.
Massey became a confirmed invalid and lived with B.U. Massey in
Springfield, Missouri. Requiring constant medical care,
unavailable in Springfield, he was moved to the Sisters Hospital, St.
Louis, where he died. |
| B.F.
Massey was never vigorous or robust. He was 5'-7" tall and
weighed 137 pounds. He suffered from rheumatism all his life. |