Alvin O. Benton was born May 23, 1907 in Butterville, New York (Ulster County). He came to Monticello as a young man while employed by Western Electric. It was there that he met his future wife, Elizabeth Scriber, the daughter of A.M. Scriber, publisher and editor of the newspaper the Republican Watchman. Soon after his engagement and subsequent marriage to Ms. Scriber in 1934, Mr. Benton became part of the newspaper staff. He remained with the newspaper and upon Mr. Scriber's death in 1948 he and his wife became the joint owners. Mr. Benton continued on as editor and publisher until his retirement in the 1960s.
He was involved in numerous civic organizations and an active part of the community. Methodist Church, Rotary Club, Scenykill Hunting Club, Masonic Club, Fireman, President of the Wanaksink Lake Club, historical research and writing were his favorite pastimes. He was well known among his family and friends for his poetry and interesting collections of antiques and memorabilia. Mr. Benton died December 5, 1993 at the age of 86.
Alvin O. Benton was initiated an Entered Apprentice on May 28, 1937; passed to the degree of Fellow Craft on June 11, 1937; and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on June 25, 1937, at Monticello Lodge No. 532. The year 1937, according to the history that he compiled, seems to have been an active one for the Lodge. Wor. Charles Horton was in the East, and accomplishments that year reportedly included renovation of the Lodge hall, including re-upholstering the mahogany benches on the sidelines, and replacing the wall-to-wall carpeting in a pattern emblematic of the tiled floor of King Solomon's Temple.
Shortly after being raised to full membership, Bro. Benton immediately become involved in the affairs of the Lodge, starting through the chairs in regular succession. In 1938, he was appointed Junior Master of Ceremonies, which is the usual starting point for new officers in Monticello Lodge. Due to the illness of one or more officers senior to him, he seems to have advanced rapidly, leading him to skip over chair or two -- which may have been a less common occurrence in those days than it is today. By 1940, he was an elected officer, serving in the post of Junior Warden with Andrew J. McCollough in the East. Wor. Bro. Benton must have been an excellent ritualist. In 1941, four years after he joined the Lodge, he wrote: "Jay F. Hager of Masonville made his official visit on October 10th; [1941] the second degree was on October 23rd, in charge of the Junior Warden, J. Maxwell Knapp. The Senior Warden, Alvin, O. Benton, delivered the Middle Chamber Lecture. The first degree had been in charge of Bro. Benton, who had only a week before presided as Master for the first degree at the District Convention, which was held at Sidney."
The chapter of which outlines his year as Master (1942) begins with the words: The election of Alvin O. Benton to the Mastership was contemporaneous with the United States' declaration of war upon the Axis. A dark and trying future was envisioned and both the lodge and its Master realized that much was to be done if the attendance and other records set by Bro. Levy and his predecessors were to be maintained." The lodge newsletter, The Gavel, in October 1942, reports that Private Allen D. Seaman was put through all three degrees in one week under Wor. Benton's direction, in order to be raised in his home lodge at Monticello prior to shipping out.
Wor. Bro. Benton seems to have viewed his most significant accomplishments as being in the area improved publications, especially The Gavel and Early Masonry in Monticello and Sullivan County after his term was over. He wrote, "The Gavel, which had been printed on a mimeograph, was revised and given the appearance of a magazine. Through this medium members of the Monticello Lodge have been kept in close contact with its brethren some of whom had joined the armed service and were in Hawaii and other distant points. Many were the letters which commended the lodge and its officers for this medium of information. The cost of the 'Gavel' is no greater than the usual lodge notices and has been received with great interest by all."
The war effort was as much a priority for the Masons of Monticello as it was for the nation as a whole. Despite hard times, he noted with pleasure concerning Lodge meetings, "Even the gas and tire shortage did not result in a drop in attendance."
While he was Master, he chaired the Grand Master's Masonic War Chest fund for the Sullivan-Delaware District, and he used the communication tools at his disposal to add to the sense of national pride intended to rally patriotism and gratitude for soldier's sacrifices. As part of what today has come to be known as homeland defense, there was during World War II an airplane observation post near the court house, for which members of Monticello Lodge purchased an American flag to purchase a flag and volunteered their time watching for enemy planes at a Monticello lookout point, as part of the nation's defense.
Speeches by Wor. Benton posted here include: ending his year as Master 
; on the occasion of the burning of the building's mortgage in October 1951 ; and at the centennial celebration of Freemasonry in Sullivan County in 1961.
Information concerning R.W. Bro. Benton's activities in the Scottish Rite and Shriners are not presently available, but he is known to have been active in both, in addition to wearing the purple of the fraternity in his home lodge at Monticello.