This past weekend, I took some time to look for Mr. J.H. Bennett in the recorded history of Portland and found very little. There was a record suggesting that he was married on February 24, 1909 but little else. A cold trail sadly, obscured by dozens of references to other Bennetts of note.
Judge Cameron was a little more visible in the records. In 1906 two articles mentioned him and suggest his standing as a visible public figure. In one, the headline reads "Russian Nihilist Threatens Cameron" and in the other, "Cameron Advocates Playgrounds for Children". Can there be two more disparate notes? I find myself eager to know more about both men. I expect the good judge will prove the more interesting.
Thanks to Bruce Eaton for identifying J.H. Bennett as the progenitor of the eponymous cup amongst all the Bennetts seeking the public eye in the early decades of the 20th Century. It was a good catch. Now all we need is some detail.
