Kirby T. Benedict was an American attorney and judge best known as the Chief Justice of the territorial New Mexico Supreme Court from 1858 to 1866. Benedict was born on November 23, 1810, in

Kent, Connecticut Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located alongside the border with New York, the town's population was 3,019 according to the 2020 census. Kent is home to three boarding schools: Kent School, the Marvelwood School ...

. He married Charlotte Curtis of Delaware, Ohio in 1834. He moved to Illinois shortly after being admitted to the bar, served a term in the state legislature, and befriended

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

Stephen A. Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

. President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

appointed Benedict associate judge of the Third Judicial District of

New Mexico Territory The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...

in 1853. In 1858, President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

appointed Benedict as chief justice of the territorial

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. He was assigned to the First District and headquartered in Santa Fe. From 1854 to 1866, Benedict rendered twenty-two supreme court decisions. In addition to his legal work, Benedict helped organize the Historical Society of New Mexico. He was elected as President of the Society in 1862. Governor Connelly appointed Benedict to the three person committee to complete the 1865 ''Revised statutes and laws of the Territory of New Mexico''. President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

replaced him with Colonel John P. Slough in 1866. After losing his position as judge, he worked as a trial attorney until his license was suspended in 1871. He died in Santa Fe, New Mexico of heart failure on February 27, 1874.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Kirby 1810 births 1874 deaths New Mexico lawyers New Mexico Territory judges People from Kent, Connecticut New Mexico Democrats