Stringfellow, Benjamin F., lawyer, and one of the pro-slavery leaders in Kansas, was born in Fredericksburg, Va., Sept. 3, 1816. His parents were both Virginians, descended from some of the early settlers. He was reared upon his father's plantation and educated in the common schools until he was twelve years old, when his father sent him to school at Fredericksburg. Subsequently he attended the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, and in the fall of 1835 began to read law. He was admitted to the bar and located at Louisville, Ky., but removed from there to St. Louis and finally to Huntsville, Mo. He soon after met Sterling Price, who persuaded him to go to Keytesville, where he became recognized as a lawyer of ability. Within a short time he was appointed circuit attorney, which office he held for four years. In 1844 he entered actively into political life, was elected to the state legislature and subsequently was appointed attorney-general of the state, serving four years. When Kansas Territory was organized in 1854 and the contest over slavery commenced, there was perfected at Weston, Platte county, Mo., an organization known as the "Self Defensive Association," of which Mr. Stringfellow was secretary. He foresaw the coming conflict and believed the only way to avoid it was by admitting Kansas as a slave state, thus keeping sufficient power in the United States senate to defeat the abolition movement. During the winter of 1854-55 he was selected to go to Washington, D. C., to meet the members of Congress from the southern states and explain to them the need of prompt and energetic action. They promised to send slaves to Kansas, but failed to do so. In 1858 Mr. Stringfellow went to Memphis, Tenn., but in the fall of 1859 became a resident of Atchison, Kan. At the close of the war he cordially coöperated with the Republican party and engaged in commercial enterprises, being active in the organization and construction of the first railroads in Kansas. He died on April 26, 1891.