Benjamin Franklin Thomas (February 12, 1813 – September 27, 1878) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

Early years

In 1819, Thomas moved with his parents to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, and attended Lancaster Academy. He was the grandson of publisher Isaiah Thomas. He graduated from

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1830. Thomas studied law at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and with his cousin,

Pliny Merrick Pliny T. Merrick (August 2, 1794 – January 31, 1867) was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Early life Merrick was born in Brookfield, Ma ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1833 and commenced practice in Worcester.

Political career

Throughout his life, Thomas held several local offices. In 1842, he was elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. He was commissioner of bankruptcy in 1842, judge of

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

for Worcester County 1844-1848, and a presidential elector on the Whig ticket in 1848. Thomas was a justice of the

from 1853 to 1859. Thomas continued the practice of law in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. In 1861 he was elected as a Unionist to the

37th Congress The 37th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861, ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Charles F. Adams, and served from June 11, 1861, to March 3, 1863. He served on the judiciary committee and the special committee on the bankrupt law. In 1868 he was nominated by the governor for chief justice of Massachusetts, but the nomination was not confirmed by the council. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1840, and would be deeply involved with the society in various ways for the rest of his life. He served on the society's board of councilors from 1842 to 1843, as secretary for domestic correspondence from 1841 to 1867, and as vice president from 1867 until his death in 1878.Dunbar, B. (1987). ''Members and Officers of the American Antiquarian Society''. Worcester: American Antiquarian Society. Thomas died at his home in

Beverly Farms, Massachusetts Beverly Farms is a neighborhood comprising the eastern part of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, in Massachusetts's North Shore region, about 20 miles north of Boston. Beverly Farms is an oceanfront community with a population of about 3,500, e ...

on September 27, 1878, and is interred at

Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a public ...

in Boston.

References

External links

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Epitaph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Benjamin Franklin 1813 births 1878 deaths Massachusetts state court judges Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Brown University alumni Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Massachusetts Unionists Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives 1848 United States presidential electors Members of the American Antiquarian Society 19th-century American politicians Trustees of the Boston Public Library 19th-century American judges