Ben C. Henley
{{Short description|American lawyer (1907–1987)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Benjamin Charles Henley
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| office =Arkansas Republican Party State Chairman
| term_start =1955
| term_end =1962
| preceded =Osro Cobb
| succeeded =William L. Spicer
| birth_date ={{birth date|1907|10|7}}
| birth_place =St. Joe, Searcy County
Arkansas, USA
| death_date ={{death date and age|1987|11|25|1907|10|7}}
| death_place =Harrison, Arkansas
| resting_place =Henley Cemetery in St. Joe, Arkansas
| occupation =Attorney; Businessman
| residence =Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas
| religion =
| spouse =Jewel Ivie Henley
| children =
| relations =Jesse Smith Henley (brother)
| alma_mater =University of Arkansas School of Law
| footnotes=
}}
Benjamin Charles Henley (October 7, 1907 – November 25, 1987[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PblZAyi8lftdWTk3WVCE9IRou7YoZ4Na/view?usp=sharing Gravestone: Benjamin Charles Henley 25.11.87]. Retrieved 20 Sep 2024.) was an American lawyer and businessman from Harrison in Boone County in northwestern Arkansas, who was the chairman of his state's Republican Party from 1955 to 1962.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YyVkGzvV6IoC&q=William+L.+Spicer+of+Fort+Smith&pg=PA38|title=Cathy Kunzinger Urwin, Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller As Governor of Arkansas, 1967-71, p. 37|publisher=Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press|accessdate=August 19, 2012|isbn=9781557282002|year=1991}}
Biography
He graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville. He tutored an aunt by marriage, Mary Elizabeth Smith Massey (1900–1971), in the study of law. Massey became one of the first women lawyers in Arkansas. In 1934, she ran on the Republican ticket for county/circuit clerk in Henley's native Searcy County, was elected, and served three terms in the position. As an appointed city attorney in 1935, she developed the blueprint for the water city system in Marshall, Arkansas, and campaigned for a bond issue to finance the project.{{cite web|url=http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1706|title=Mary Elizabeth Smith Massey (1900-1971)|publisher=encyclopediaofarkansas.net|accessdate=August 17, 2012}}
As the state party chairman, Henley was a delegate to the 1956 and the 1960 Republican national conventions held in San Francisco and Chicago, respectively.{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/hendrickson-henriquez.html|title=Index to Politicians: Hendrickson to Henrotin|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=August 17, 2012}} In 1956, as his party's unsuccessful nominee for the United States Senate against the Democrat J. William Fulbright, Henley finished with 17 percent of the vote, well behind his party's presidential nominee, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who still lost Arkansas in the second race against Adlai E. Stevenson, II, of Illinois.Arkansas Secretary of State, General election returns, November 6, 1956 Henley did not actively campaign against the politically entrenched Fulbright, who instead was out of state working for the Stevenson campaign, which was managed by the Arkansas journalist Harry S. Ashmore.The New York Times, October 12, 1956 Fulbright received 331,679 votes to Henley's 68,016.Arkansas Secretary of State, State election returns, November 6, 1956.
In addition to his legal practice, Henley was part-owner, with later Harrison Mayor Bob Reynolds, of Walters Dry Goods Company at the intersection of Main and Stephenson streets in Harrison, the only local dealer of Levi's jeans. In May 1961, the store was completely flooded by heavy rains, and virtually all of the mud-soaked merchandise was lost. The facility, which carried no flood insurance, was refurbished through a loan from the Small Business Administration. Walters has since passed into history, and another business, Leflers, moved into that location.{{cite web|url=http://www.bchrs.org/collections/1961flood/reynolds_all_hell_broke_loose.html|title=Reynolds: "All Hell Broke Loose", May 6, 2007|publisher=bchrs.org|accessdate=September 2, 2013}}
Henley's younger brother, Jesse Smith Henley, was a long-term judge of the U.S. district and Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for whom the federal building in Harrison is named.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}
{{Portal bar|United States|Law|Politics|Business and Economics}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
|-
{{s-vac|last=Victor M. Wade}}
{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Arkansas
(Class 3)|years=1956}}
{{s-aft|after=Kenneth Jones}}
{{succession box |
before=Osro Cobb |
title=Arkansas Republican Party State Chairman |
years=1955–1962|
after=William L. Spicer}}
{{S-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley, Ben C.}}
Category:People from Searcy County, Arkansas
Category:People from Harrison, Arkansas
Category:University of Arkansas School of Law alumni
Category:Arkansas Republican state chairmen