CLARENCE I. BENSON, M.D.
 Port Deposit's Doctor for 30 Years

By Erika Quesenbery
 Curator Paw Paw Museum Port Deposit, MD

 
    Dr. Clarence I. Benson was one of Port Deposit’s most popular physicians for over 30 years, first opening his office in 1911. He was descended from an old Maryland family, his great-grandfather, Joshua Lemon Benson, being a Baltimore County farmer, miller and merchant, who also was a steward in the Methodist Church where he frequently occupied the pulpit in the absence of the minister. Joshua Benson married Rachel Miller, and their son, Dr. Benjamin R. Benson became the father of Dr. Clarence I. Benson of Port Deposit. The Senior Doctor Benson opened his office in Taneytown, Carroll County in 1873, and by 1875 removed to Cockeysville.
Dr. Clarence I. Benson was born in Cockeysville on September 25, 1886, attending public schools and later the high school in Baltimore and then the University of Maryland Medical School graduating in 1909. He was a member of the Medical Reserve Corps during World War I, as well as a member of the Draft Board. He was the Physician for the Tome School at Port Deposit for 30 years. Dr. Benson was also a Mason who had taken the 32nd Degree of the Scottish Rite, and a member of the Cecil County Medical Society, the State Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and the American Medical Association.