Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Foraker, Joseph Benson

FORAKER, Joseph Benson, governor of Ohio, b. near Rainsborough, Highland co., Ohio, 5 July, 1846. He worked on a farm in his boyhood, and when sixteen years of age enlisted in the 89th Ohio regiment, and served in the army of the Cumberland until the close of the war. He was made a sergeant on 26 Aug., 1862, 1st lieutenant, 14 March, 1864, and on 19 March, 1865, was brevetted captain “for efficient services during the campaigns in North Carolina and Georgia.” When his regiment was mustered out he was aide-de-camp on Gen. Henry W. Slocum's staff. After the war he spent two years at Wesleyan university, Delaware, Ohio, and then entered Cornell, where he was graduated with the first class in 1869. He was admitted to the bar in the same year, and in 1879-'82 was judge of the Cincinnati superior court, resigning the office on account of his health. He was Republican candidate for the governership of Ohio in 1885, and re-elected in 1887. He was elected to the U.S. senate in 1896 for six years.