Henry L. Benson
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Henry Lamdin Benson (July 6, 1854 – October 16, 1921) was an American politician and jurist in the state of
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. He was the 44th justice of the
Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives {{R from other capitalisation ...
{{R from other capitalisation ...
for the 1897 regular session of the
19th Oregon Legislative Assembly The 19th Oregon Legislative Assembly was scheduled to convene January 11, 1897. The Senate organized, but the House failed to do so. In the House, two factions formed, neither of which had enough members to constitute a quorum. The Senate elected ...
, but a dispute between two rival factions in the House prevented the body from organizing for that session. (E. J. Davis was chosen as Speaker by the other faction.) Henry's younger brother was Oregon Governor Frank W. Benson.


Early life

Henry Benson was born in
Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
on July 6, 1854.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. Benson was born to Matilda Williamson Benson and Henry Clark Benson. By 1858 the family was living in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, where his brother Frank was born. The family later moved to
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
where the younger Henry was educated in Portland schools and at Portland Academy. However, for college he returned to
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
where he earned a degree in 1873 from the
College of the Pacific College of the Pacific is the liberal arts core of the University of the Pacific and offers degrees in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the fine and performing arts. The College houses 18 academic departments in addition to ...
in San Jose. Three years later he was admitted to practice law in California. That same year he married Susie E. Dougherty, with whom he would have six children. Then in 1880 he returned to Oregon where he became the principal of the Drain Normal School before later serving as the superintendent of schools for
Grants Pass, Oregon Grants Pass is the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, along the Rogue River. The population was 39,189 at the 2020 census. History Early Hudson's Bay Company hunt ...
. In 1886, he passed the Oregon
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
and practiced in
Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
until 1891 when he went back to Grants Pass.


Political career

In 1892, he was selected as the
district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
for a large portion of southwestern Oregon. Then in 1896 he was elected to the
Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...
as a Republican representing
Josephine County Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is probably named after a stream in the area called Josephine Creek, which in ...
.Oregon Legislative Assembly (19th) 1897 Regular Session.
Oregon State Archives. Retrieved on January 25, 2008. During the 1897 legislature he was selected as
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
, but he was only selected by one faction of the house during a House session where the House never officially organized nor conducted any official business. Then from 1898 to 1907 Benson served as a circuit court judge in southwestern Oregon counties. In 1914, Henry Benson ran for a position on the
Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Charles L. McNary Charles Linza McNary (June 12, 1874February 25, 1944) was an American Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1917 to 1944 and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legi ...
. Benson won by a single vote. He then started his six-year term in 1915 and won re-election in 1920.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008. Henry L. Benson then died in office on October 16, 1921.


Other

The Judge Henry L. Benson House in
Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...
is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Benson moved to Klamath Falls in 1898 to comply with requirement that one of two judges of the four-county circuit court district live east of the Cascades. He was re-elected to the circuit court in 1904 and served until 1915 when he became a state supreme court justice. With .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Henry L. Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Oregon state court judges Politicians from Stockton, California University of the Pacific (United States) alumni Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives 1854 births 1921 deaths Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives District attorneys in Oregon