Elsie Ann Benson Nye

Territory’s First Lady never resided in Nevada

Elsie Benson Nye was not an active Nevada Territorial First Lady. In fact, there is no record of her ever being in Nevada, not even during her husband James Warren Nye’s three-year term as Nevada Territorial Governor. In her absence, Mary Eleanor “Mollie” Stotts Clemens acted as First Lady for James Warren Nye in social occasions.

Elsie Ann Benson was born on December 29, 1815, to Peter Benson and Clarissa Sumner Benson, in Pompey, New York. She was the fifth of six children born to them: Chloe, Robert, David, Mary, Elsie, and Alanson.

In 1839, Elsie Benson married James Warren Nye, a successful lawyer in Madison County, New York. The Nyes lived in Hamilton, New York early in their marriage. This was where they had their two children, Mary and Charles. Her husband James moved up in politics and was elected district attorney and county judge. He moved to Syracuse and then to New York City to be the first president of the Metropolitan Board of Police.

In the resources about James Nye, they do not mention if his family moved with him for these new positions. We do know that the family did not move to Nevada Territory in the 1860s during his Territorial Governor years.

There is an August 22, 1862, recorded deed in the Ormsby County Records for the house that William M. Stewart and his wife Annie Foote Stewart sold to Elsie B. Nye. This is the house that James Warren Nye lived in while he was in Carson City, Nevada. For an unknown reason James Nye had the property put in his wife’s name. The Nye family owned this home for many years after James Nye had left Nevada.

Elsie seems to have found a part in his role as the first United States Senator for Nevada from 1865-1873. On July 25, 1866, Mrs. Nye is listed as one of the original founders of the National Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Orphan Home. This was a much-needed Home following the Civil War. The home was in Washington City. The Act was Chapter 249, of the Statutes at Large, of the United States of America, entitled, “An Act to incorporate “The National Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home,” Approved, July 25, 1866. Many names of the original founders appear to be the wives of political figures.

Elsie was a New Yorker and stayed in the State of New York during her life. Her daughter Mary Nye Bingham lived in Hannibal and Granby, Oswego County, New York, her entire adult life. That is around 100 miles from Hamilton, New York, where we believe Elsie continued to live. Elsie died in Oswego County, New York in 1867, so she remained close to her daughter. Her husband, James W. Nye was two years into his terms as Nevada’s U.S. Senator.

Elsie and James’ son Charles was a clerk for the U.S. Senate in 1870 according to the U.S. Census. His father was serving in the Senate at that same time. In 1880 he and his family were still in Washington, D.C., but now he is a clerk in the Attorney General’s Office. Charles moved to the San Francisco Bay area by 1900 and died in Berkeley in 1933. So, he was not near his mother during her life.

The week that Elsie Nye was to pass away, she and Gov. Nye were in Oswego, New York for the Governor to give a speech at Doolittle Hall. They were staying at the home of A.S. Page, a relative of the Senator’s family. On Nov. 7 “Mrs. Nye was stricken with paralysis, since which she has remained in a very critical state … but for this affliction, would have left for Washington during the present week.”

On Nov. 9, Elsie Benson Nye died at the Page’s home. Her funeral was also held at this home on Nov. 11. “Rev. Mr. Greeley, Pastor of the Congregational Church, officiated, and the remains were conveyed, in a special car, on the 2:15 train to Syracuse for interment.”

This notice was published in a Washington, D.C. newspaper, which shows that Elsie had an “extensive circle” of friends there.

“We publish with sincere regret a special dispatch from Oswego, New York, announcing the death, in that city, at noon yesterday, of Mrs. Elsie B. Nye, consort of Hon. James W. Nye, Senator from Nevada. She had been in failing health for some months past; but the illness which terminated her life was sudden and of short duration, she having been comparatively well until within forty-eight hours of her death. She died at the residence of Mr. Page, a near relative and her husband and daughter were at her side in her last illness. She was a native of New York State, and at the time of her death was, we believe, in the fifty-third year of her age. Her rate accomplishments and attractive character had made her many devoted friends in the extensive circle in which she moved, including very many in this city, and her loss will be deeply felt and sincerely mourned. We tender our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved Senator, to whom this loss is a blow which can only be fully appreciated by those who knew the happiness of his domestic life with the noble and amiable lady who has been taken from him.”

Following her death a stained-glass window was dedicated to her at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Hamilton, New York. In a book about this church, Jim Ford writes,

“[Mrs. Nye] traveling with Mrs. [Charlotte] Birge and others, helped to raise the funds necessary for the construction of St. Thomas’ Church. … Their travels led them to New Berlin, Greene, Binghamton, and Elmira. Then the ladies visited the Bishop and obtained a list of parishes from Buffalo to Utica. Many parishes from the Bishop’s list were visited. Their efforts paid off handsomely. … The stained-glass window is dedicated to … Elsie B. Nye.”

Elsie Benson Nye died on November 9, 1867, in Oswego, New York. James Warren Nye died nine years later, December 25, 1876, in White Plains, New York. They are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York.

Researched by Patti Bernard and Mona Reno. Written by Mona Reno, 2025. Posted December 11, 2025.