Bennett was born in 1807 in Milton, New York. He moved in his youth to New Haven, Connecticut, in preparation for college, but his eyesight made that impractical. Instead, he became a merchant, first in Albany, New York, and later in New York City. In 1832 he moved to Ohio, and, in 1840, settled on a farm in the Wisconsin Territory. He was one of the first settlers in Raymond, in Racine County.Stone, Fanny S., supervising editor. Racine, Belle City of the Lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement (Vol. 1) Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1916; p. 168 He declared himself bankrupt in 1843.
