Samuel Benedict

Samuel Benedict (1792–1854) was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Liberia. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1792,[1][2] and purchased his freedom and that of his family.[3] He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship Indiana.[4]

Samuel Benedict
1st Chief Justice of Liberia
In office 1847–1854
Nominated by	Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Succeeded by	John Day
Personal details
Born	1792 Georgia, United States
Died	1854 Monrovia, Liberia

Prior to Liberia's independence, Benedict was a judge of the Superior Court and a merchant.[5] He later presided over the Liberian Constitutional Convention of 1847, which officially provided Liberia's independence from the American Colonization Society.[6][7] He was one of Montserrado County's delegates at the convention and a signer of the Liberian Declaration of Independence.[7]

Representing the Anti-Administration Party (AAP), Benedict was defeated by longtime political foe Joseph Jenkins Roberts in the 1847 election to serve as Liberia's first president.[8][9][10]

Benedict later became the first Chief Justice of the Liberian Supreme Court.[10] He died in 1854.[1]

References

1. Emma Jones Lapsansky-Werner and Margaret Hope Bacon, Back to Africa
2. Howard Temperly, After Slavery
3. Loren Schweninger, Black Property Owners in the South, 1790-1915
4. Roll of Emigrants that have been sent to the colony of Liberia, Western Africa, by the American Colonization Society and its auxiliaries, to September 1843 Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine
5. Carl Patrick Burrowes, Power and Press Freedom in Liberia, 1830-1970
6. Carl Patrick Burrowes, “Black Christian republicanism: a Southern ideology in early Liberia, 1822-1847”, The Journal of Negro History, 2001
7. 1847 Constitution of Liberia
8. African Elections Database, “Elections In Liberia”
9. United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, “Promoting Good Governance in Liberia: Towards the Formulation of a National Framework”
10. Randall M. Smith, Dear Master: Letters of a Slave Family