Benjamin J. Lea (January 1, 1833 – March 15, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as a justice on the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the ultimate judicial tribunal of the state of Tennessee. Roger A. Page is the Chief Justice. Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state le ...

from 1876 to 1878, and again from 1890 to 1894. Born in

Caswell County, North Carolina Caswell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yanceyville. Partially bordering the state of Virginia, ...

, Lea graduated from

Wake Forest College Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

in 1852, and moved to Tennessee, where he taught between 1852 and 1856 as a teacher in Haywood County. He studied law to be admitted to the bar in 1856, and became a lawyer in

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, located in the western Its population as of the 2010 census was 10,292, with a decrease to 9,788 at the 2020 census. The city is n ...

. At the same time he made a political career as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He was elected to represent Haywood County in the

Tennessee legislature The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title a ...

in 1859, serving until 1821. He then served in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, achieving the rank of colonel. In 1865, shortly before the end of the war he was taken prisoner. In 1876, Lea was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. From 1878 to 1886 he held the office of

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, during which time he compiled volumes 70-84 of Tennessee Reports. In 1889 he became a member and president of the

Tennessee State Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

,Benjamin Lea in the List of Presidents of the Tennessee Senate
also serving as a deputy to Governor

Robert Love Taylor Robert Love "Bob" Taylor (July 31, 1850March 31, 1912) was an American politician, writer, and lecturer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three terms as the 24th governor of Tennessee, from 1887 to 1891, and again from 1897 to 1899, a ...

, and de facto vice-governor. In 1890, he was again elected to the Tennessee Supreme Court, defeating William Dwight Beard for election to the seat to which Beard had been appointed following the death of William C. Folkes. Lea was elected Chief Justice in April 1893, serving until his death the following year, in Brownsville.

References

Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court Wake Forest University alumni 1833 births 1894 deaths Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators People from Caswell County, North Carolina Tennessee Attorneys General 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges {{Tennessee-state-judge-stub