Willis Benson Machen

Willis Benson Machen (April 10 1810 – September 29 1893) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Kentucky.

Born in Caldwell County, Kentucky (now Lyon County, Kentucky, Machen attended Cumberland College in Princeton, and then engaged in agricultural pursuits near Eddyville. He was delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1849, was a member of the Kentucky Senate in 1854, and was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1856 and 1860.

When a group of secessionist Kentuckians formed a Confederate government for the state, the Kentucky Confederate legislative council elected Machen as its president. cite book |title=The Civil War in Kentucky: Battle for the Bluegrass |editor=Kent Masterson Brown |chapter=The Government of Confederate Kentucky |pages=pp. 69–98 |publisher=Savas Publishing Company |location=Mason City, Iowa |year=2000 |isbn=1882810473] Machen was also elected to the First and Second Confederate Congresses.

Machen was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Garrett Davis, and served from September 27, 1872, to March 3, 1873, after which he resumed agricultural interests.

He died in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and was interred in Riverview Cemetery in Eddyville.

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