John Benton Callis

John Benton Callis Sr. (January 3, 1828 – September 24, 1898) was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and was then elected to the as a reconstruction-era U.S. representative from Alabama. As a member of Congress, he was the author of the first Ku Klux Klan Act, but his version was defeated in the

He later served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1874), representing Grant County, Wisconsin. Politically, Callis spent most of his political career as a member of the Republican Party, but his stint in the Wisconsin State Assembly occurred while he was affiliated with the short-lived Liberal Republican Party, part of Wisconsin's Democratic-backed Reform coalition.

His nephew George Barnett became the 12th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps (1914–1920).

Early life John Benton Callis was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1828. As a child, he moved with his parents to Carroll County, Tennessee, where they settled from 1834 to 1840. In 1840, they continued west to the Wisconsin Territory, and settled a homestead in the vicinity of what is now Lancaster, Wisconsin. He attended the common schools around Lancaster, though they were quite primitive in this era.

As a young man, he studied medicine under of Lancaster, but ultimately chose not to pursue that profession. In 1848, he went to Minnesota for work and was employed on the construction of Fort Ripley. After that, he joined the California gold rush in 1851 and engaged in mining and mercantile business. He abandoned the effort in 1853 and returned to Wisconsin by way of Central America. Upon returning to Lancaster, he resumed his mercantile pursuits. He was promoted to major on January 5, 1863.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Iron Brigade was one of the first units to engage the Confederates on the first day of battle, July 1, 1863. Callis was shot in the chest during that bloody morning of fighting before the Iron Brigade withdrew along with other Union forces to the hills south of the village. Callis laid wounded in the field for three days until the Confederate forces were defeated and forced to withdraw. After a long medical recuperation, he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to serve as a military superintendent of the War Department at Washington, D.C. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel February 11, 1865, and was subsequently granted a double brevet to brigadier general of volunteers. He was interred in Hillside Cemetery.

Personal life and family John Benton Callis was the eldest child of Henry Callis and his wife Christina ( Benton) Callis. Callis had two younger sisters. His nephew, George Barnett, was a career United States Marine Corps officer and became the 12th Commandant of the Marine Corps during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.

John Benton Callis married Martha "Mattie" Barnett of Brookville, Pennsylvania. They had five children together.