Representative Allan Benny

Allan Benny (July 12, 1867 – November 6, 1942) was an American Democratic Party politician and attorney from New Jersey who represented the state’s 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for one term from 1903 to 1905. Over the course of his public career, he served at the municipal, state, and federal levels, contributing to the legislative process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American political history.

Benny was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 12, 1867. During his youth his family moved to New Jersey, and he was educated in the public schools of Bayonne, Hudson County. After completing his basic education, he pursued the study of law, preparing for a professional career at a time when Bayonne and the surrounding region were undergoing rapid industrial and population growth.

In 1889 Benny was admitted to the bar of New Jersey and commenced the practice of law in Bayonne. Establishing himself as an attorney in the community, he became involved in local affairs and quickly moved into public service. His legal training and growing prominence in Bayonne’s civic life provided the foundation for his entry into elective office and for his subsequent roles in municipal and state government.

Benny’s political career began at the local level when he was elected a member of the Bayonne city council, serving from 1892 to 1894. He later advanced to state office as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, in which he served from 1898 to 1900. Following his legislative service in Trenton, he was appointed prosecuting attorney of Bayonne, a position he held from 1900 until 1903. He resigned as prosecuting attorney in 1903 after winning election to the United States Congress, marking his transition from local and state responsibilities to the national legislative arena.

Elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-eighth Congress, Benny served as a Representative from New Jersey from March 4, 1903, to March 3, 1905. Representing New Jersey’s 9th congressional district, he participated in the work of the House of Representatives during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, a period marked by progressive-era reforms and expanding federal involvement in economic and social issues. During his single term in office, Allan Benny contributed to the legislative process and took part in the democratic governance of the nation on behalf of his constituents. He was a candidate for reelection in 1904 to the Fifty-ninth Congress but was unsuccessful, bringing his federal legislative service to a close after one term.

After leaving Congress in 1905, Benny returned to Bayonne and resumed the practice of law, continuing his professional career in the legal field. In his later years he also served as assistant librarian of the law library in the courthouse at Jersey City, New Jersey, a position that kept him closely connected to the legal community and to the administration of justice in Hudson County. He remained in this role until his death.

Allan Benny died in Bayonne, New Jersey, on November 6, 1942. He was interred in Moravian Cemetery on Staten Island, New York, thus returning in death to the state of his birth. His career reflected a steady progression from local to state to national office, and his service in the House of Representatives formed part of the broader Democratic Party presence in New Jersey politics in the early twentieth century.