Benjamin Helm Bristow

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History & Society

Benjamin Helm Bristow

United States official

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Feb 19, 2024 • Article History

Benjamin Helm Bristow

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Category: History & Society

Born:: June 20, 1832, Elkton, Ky., U.S.

Died:: June 22, 1896, New York, N.Y. (aged 64)

Political Affiliation:: Republican Party

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Benjamin Helm Bristow (born June 20, 1832, Elkton, Ky., U.S.—died June 22, 1896, New York, N.Y.) was a lawyer and statesman who, as U.S. secretary of the treasury (1874–76), successfully prosecuted the Whiskey Ring, a group of Western distillers who had evaded payment of federal whiskey taxes. Bristow studied law in his father’s office and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He served in the Kentucky state Senate (1864–65) and sought the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln. After the war, as U.S. attorney for the Kentucky district (1866–70), he worked for the protection of blacks against the Ku Klux ...(100 of 192 words)

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