Benjamin Mackall IV (August 14, 1745 – 1807) was an American planter, lawyer, and jurist from

Calvert County, Maryland Calvert County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,783. Its county seat is Prince Frederick. The county's name is derived from the family name of the Barons of Baltimore, the proprietors of t ...

. He served as a justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the state supreme court, highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The cou ...

from 1778 until 1806. Benjamin was born into a large and prosperous Anglican family, that of Colonel John James Mackall (1717–1772) and Mary (Hance) Mackall.

Edward C. Papenfuse Edward C. Papenfuse (born October 15, 1943) is the retired Maryland State Archivist and Commissioner of Land Patents. Papenfuse received his undergraduate degree from the American University, an M.A. from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. ...

, et al. "MACKALL, JAMES JOHN (1717-1772)", in ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789'' (Baltimore, 1979), 426:562

http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000426/html/am426--563.html] Besides tobacco, they raised five sons and eight daughters. Benjamin was the second son, so he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1765. He practiced law in both Calvert and several nearby counties. On November 20, 1769 Mackall married Rebecca Potts in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

. She was the sister of

Richard Potts Richard Potts (July 19, 1753November 26, 1808) was an American politician and jurist. Early life and career Potts was born in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and lived there until he moved with his family to the Barbados Islands in 1757. He return ...

who would later serve with Benjamin on Maryland's Court of Appeals. Although not the eldest son, he did inherit a small farm in Calvert County from his father, which he expanded to 1,620 acres (7 km²) by his death. Mackall was first elected to the colonial House of delegates in 1768. He served there for a number of years. He was a member of all the sessions of the revolutionary house known as the Annapolis Convention, including the one that adopted the

Maryland Constitution of 1776 The Maryland Constitution of 1776 was the first of four constitutions under which the U.S. state of Maryland has been governed. It was that state's basic law from its adoption in 1776 until the Maryland Constitution of 1851 took effect on July ...

. At one of these he gained his name of Benjamin Mackall IV, since he was the fourth of that name to sign the ''Declaration of Rights of Freeman of Maryland'' in 1775. (The other three Benjamins were all cousins). Mackall was a member of Calvert County's Committee of Safety in 1775 and 1776, and in 1776 followed in his father's path when he was chosen as the Colonel of the Calvert County militia. He later resigned this post when he was appointed to the court, believing that no one should hold more than one major office. Benjamin was appointed in 1778 as one of the first set of justices to the Court of Appeals, which was the highest court in the state. When the number of justices was reduced to three in 1801 he was one of those who continued to serve. He finally resigned in 1806 due to declining health. He died at home in 1807 on his plantation known as ''Godsgrace'' in Calvert County, and was buried in a family plot there.

References

1745 births 1807 deaths Judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals American planters {{Maryland-state-judge-stub