Benjamin Franklin Stephenson was the founder of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Menard County resident, a Rush Medical College graduate in 1850, and surgeon of the 14th Illinois Volunteers from 1861 to 1864. He originated the G.A.R. name, ritual, and constitution of Post No. 1 in Decatur on April 6, 1866, called the First National G.A.R. Convention, and served as its First Adjutant General.