His mother died at a young age, and he and his father moved to Colorado, living in Denver in 1872, Del Norte in 1874, and Placerville in 1876.

[1] Notably, he defended Gertrude Gibson Patterson in the trial for her husband's murder; she was found not guilty.

[7] He defended Italian immigrant Frank Eli in a robbery case in 1897; he was found not guilty.

[8] In 1910, Benson ran as a Republican for Colorado Senate, getting 9.6% votes—13,881 votes—losing to William H. Sharpley.

[10] Benson died on January 30, 1922, aged 58, in a hospital in Denver, of complications during abdominal surgery.