Representative George Jacob Benner

George Jacob Benner (April 13, 1859 – December 30, 1930) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and a long-serving attorney in Adams County. He was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a community still marked by the legacy of the Civil War battle fought there less than a decade before his birth. Raised in this historically significant town, he attended the local public schools, receiving his early education in the Gettysburg area.

Benner pursued higher education at Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—an institution later known as Gettysburg College—and was graduated in 1878. Following his graduation, he taught school for several years, reflecting an early commitment to public service and education. During this period he began the study of law, preparing for a professional career in the legal field while remaining rooted in his native community.

In 1881, Benner was admitted to the bar of Adams County, Pennsylvania, and commenced the practice of law in Gettysburg. Establishing himself as a local attorney, he built a legal career that would span several decades. His growing involvement in public affairs was reflected in his role as a delegate to the Democratic State convention in 1886, signaling his emergence as an active figure in Pennsylvania Democratic politics and laying the groundwork for his later congressional service.

Benner was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth Congress, representing Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives. His term in Congress placed him in Washington during a period of economic and political change at the close of the nineteenth century. After serving this single term, he was not a candidate for renomination in 1898, choosing instead to return to private life and his legal practice rather than pursue a prolonged congressional career.

Following his departure from Congress, Benner resumed the practice of law in Gettysburg, where he continued to be a prominent member of the local bar. His professional reputation led him to seek judicial office, and in 1925 he was an unsuccessful candidate for election as president judge of the thirty-first judicial district. Despite this setback, he remained an established legal practitioner and respected community figure in Adams County.

George Jacob Benner spent virtually his entire life in Gettysburg, maintaining close ties to the town where he was born, educated, practiced law, and engaged in public service. He died in Gettysburg on December 30, 1930. He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a burial ground of historic significance that also serves as the final resting place for many figures associated with the town’s civic and national history.