S.F. Bennett Scrapbook-Walworth County Historical Society

S. Fillmore Bennett Scrapbook
Walworth County Historical Society
9 East Rockwell (P.O Box 273)
Elkhorn, WI 53121
http://www.walcohistory.org/

Sanford Fillmore Bennett was born in Eden, Erie County, New York on June 21, 1836. His family moved to Illinois when he was five years old; after attending the Academy at Waukegan (Ill.) and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, he focused his efforts on teaching. In 1861, having moved to Elkhorn, Wis., he pursued his interests in journalism, becoming the associate editor and proprietor of The (Elkhorn) Independent, wherein he published poems and short stories, many of which are contained in this scrapbook.

In addition to his journalistic interests, he also studied medicine. In 1866, he had opened a drug store at 41 N. Wisconsin (Elkhorn). It was at this drug store that the lyrics and music for
“The Sweet By and By” were inspired and created. S. F. Bennett had produced sheet music and other musical works with Joseph P. Webster, a well-known composer who had also moved with his family to Elkhorn, Wis. In 1867, they had worked on “The Signet Ring; a new Sabbath School Book” of which “The Sweet By and By” was one of the songs. He attended and graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago, Ill in 1874 and died June 12, 1898.
The S.F. Bennett Scrapbook contains hundreds of clippings documenting Dr. Bennett’s writing and editorial career. Though the scrapbook is in a fragile state, it represents a prolific poet, lyricist, doctor, and citizen of Wisconsin and showcases a period of history via a journalistic medium. The scrapbook contains articles and illustrations from that time and reflects the values upheld by Bennett.

The Walworth County Historical Society has collections that include artifacts of Chief Big Foot and his Potawatomi tribe, Civil War guns, period portraits and musical instruments, and an assortment of American and international waterfowl specimens. Also on the property are the Doris M. Reinke Resource Center, which includes the Paul & Katharine Schmidt Library; the Boyd Carriage House, an 1850 hand-hewn oak beam barn named after General John W. Boyd, replete with his carriage; and the Webster House, a clapboard house containing Civil War and Victorian period items.






The Webster House, once owned by Joseph P. Webster, was opened as a museum for the first time in 1956. On August 8, 1970, the Webster House Museum was named a Wisconsin State Landmark and an official marker was installed.

Entry compiled by Tara Genske.

Images courtesy of the Walworth County Historical Society.