B. R. HITE was born Sept. 13, 1841, in Marion county, Illinois, the third in order of birth in a family of nine children born to Louis and Dorothea Hite (Ruffner).  His mother was of the family of Ruffners, well known throughout the Kanawha Valley, West Virginia, as having established the salt works there.  Louis Hite was a farmer, a contractor on railroads and a politician.  At the age of twenty six years he served his fellow citizens as a member of the Ohio Legislature.   In 1858, he was engrossing clerk in the Illinois Senate.  He died in Potosi, Missouri, Dec. 24, 1881.
     Benjamin R. Hite, the subject of this sketch, obtained a common school education in the schools of Salem and Collinsville.  To the latter place, his present home, he came in 1866.  His qualifications, eminently fit him for representative positions and his fellow citizens appreciating this fact honored him with a seat in the 28th General Assembly of Illinois, and have kept him as supervisor in the county board ever since the inauguration of township organization.  He was chairman the fourth and seventh years of his service.  He was married to Sarah E. Griffith, daughter of Joseph W. Griffith, one of the pioneers of this county, Feb. 8, 1866.  Four sons have gladdened this union.
     Mr. Hite is a pronounced Democrat politically, and a recognized party leader.  At a Democratic convention recently held he was nominated for County Treasurer by acclamation and elected to that office in November 1882.  Possessed of eminently social qualities, he has hosts of friends.  His business qualifications fit him well for positions of trust.
Source:  History of Madison County, Illinois - Illustrated - Publ. by W. R. Brink & Co. - Edwardsville, ILL - 1882 - Page 461