MOGMBIngram
BENTON HOWARD INGRAM 1838-1900
Grand Master, 1891-1892
BIOGRAPHY
From Biographies of Past Grand Masters, 1821-1901, by the Grand Lodge of Missouri (Missouri Lodge of Research has some of the same text):
Most Worshipful Brother Benton H. Ingram entered the Grand Lodge at the Annual Communication of 1866, as Senior Warden of Sedalia Lodge No. 236, and was regular in his attendance of the Grand Lodge sessions until quite recently. In 1S71 he was appointed District Deputy Grand Master, to which position he was reappointed until his selection to office in the Grand Lodge. He was also District Deputy Grand Lecturer for his district, and acquired a reputation as a ritualist second to none in this jurisdiction. In 1888 he was elected Junior Grand Warden, followed by election as Senior Grand Warden in 1889, Deputy Grand Master in 1890, and at the Annual Communication in October, 1891, at Kansas City, he was chosen Most Worshipful Grand Master of Missouri Masons.
Brother Ingram was born in Greene County, Missouri, November 24, 1838. His earlier life was spent on a farm, receiving his education in the public schools. After reaching manhood he engaged in Springfield, Missouri, in mercantile pursuits, which continued uninterruptedly for several years, when he moved to Sedalia.
In 1872 he was elected Collector of Pettis County, after which he was appointed Circuit Clerk of Pettis County, to fill a vacancy. At the end of the term for which he was appointed he was elected and re-elected, and again in 1882, which he continued in until 1887. After that date he engaged in the insurance business.
In Masonry Brother Ingram commenced in Sedalia Lodge No. 236 in 1864. He was Senior Warden in 1866 and Worshipful Master in 1870, 1886, 1887 and 1888. As to his connection with other Masonic bodies, if any, we have no information whatsoever.
In later years, Brother Ingram resided in Kansas City. During a trip to Maryville, Missouri, on business, he was taken sick and died November 10, 1900. His remains were conveyed to his home in Kansas City, thence to Sedalia, where interment took place November 12, 1900, under auspices of the Grand Lodge, M. W. Brother Campbell Wells, Grand Master, officiating.
