John was called "Governor" probably because he had so many children and grandchildren. He served in the American Revolution, but no official documentation has been found. He and his family moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Ohio County, Kentucky in 1798.

His first wife was a Miss (Sarah?) Petty by whom he had six children Johm, Jeffries, Nellie, Nancy, Reuben, and James; and his second wife was Mary Icypheny Plummer whom he married April 29, 1786 according to a list of Frederick County, Maryland, marriage licenses. They had nine children: Samuel, Hannah, Joseph, Asa, Titus, twins Elizabeth and Mary, Obed, and George Plummer.

John received the first deed made in Ohio County. It was for a tract of land containing 1,102 acres on the North and Northwest side of Ohio County and on the waters of No Creek and adjoining a two thousand acre survey in the name or Robert Barnett. This tract lay between Rough River and No Creek and extended from the mouth of No Creek almost to the Hartford-Owensboro Road [Highway 231].

He was the first settler on No Creek and established his home about the center of this splendid tract of land, That portion is now owned by H. H. Lindley's heirs [written in 1952, Lindley's heir still own the property in 2009], also his descendants. He also owned land North of No Creek. He showed good judgment in selecting his new home as no finer body of land could be found in Ohio County. He had sufficient land to give each of his children a farm and most of them reared their familites and spent their entire lives on the farms given them. Some of this land has not been out of the family since it was settled. This land includes the farms of R. D. and M. G. Sanderfur. [The majority of the above information came from The History of No Creek, Ohio County, Kentucky, by Harry D. Tinsley published privately in 1953.]

John Bennett emigrated to America from Ireland as a young man with two of his brothers or possibly his father and an uncle.

On 15 May 1776, during the Revolutionary War, he was commissioned a Captain of the Upper District of Frederick County Maryland belonging to the 34th Battalion.

In 1798, "Governor" Bennett (the origin of the title is unknown as he was never a governor) walked from Baltimore, Maryland to Ohio County, Kentucky with his second wife, Icypheny (Plummer) Bennett and family; their belongings carried in an oxcart.

There he claimed the first land grant registered in the county in the area known as No Creek and containing more than a thousand acres. Much of the area is still owned by his descendants.

His estate was settled in Ohio County in August, 1828.