Samuel Benedict (c. 1792–1854) was a

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

n politician and jurist who served as the 1st

Chief Justice of Liberia The chief justice of Liberia is the head of the judicial branch of the Government of the Republic of Liberia and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Liberia. Appointment and term Article 54(c) of the Constitution stipulates that the chief ...

. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 1792, Emma Jones Lapsansky-Werner and Margaret Hope Bacon, ''Back to Africa''
/ref> and purchased his freedom and that of his family. He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship ''Indiana''. Prior to Liberia's independence, Benedict was a judge of the Superior Court and a merchant. He later presided over the Liberian Constitutional Convention of 1847, which officially provided Liberia's independence from the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

.1847 Constitution of Liberia
/ref> He was one of

Montserrado County Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia containing its national capital, Monrovia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has 17 sub p ...

's delegates at the convention and a signer of the

Liberian Declaration of Independence The Liberian Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Liberian Constitutional Convention on 26 July 1847, to announce that the Commonwealth of Liberia, a colony founded and controlled by the private American Colonization Society, ...

. Representing the Anti-Administration Party (AAP), Benedict was defeated by longtime political foe

Joseph Jenkins Roberts Joseph Jenkins Roberts (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) was an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Lib ...

in the 1847 election to serve as Liberia's first president.United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, "Promoting Good Governance in Liberia: Towards the Formulation of a National Framework"
/ref>Randall M. Smith, ''Dear Master: Letters of a Slave Family''
/ref> Benedict later became the first Chief Justice of the

Liberian Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in the West African nation of Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia, who is also the top Judiciary official, and four associate justices, who are nominated by the Pre ...

. He died in 1854.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Samuel Chief justices of Liberia Americo-Liberian people 1790s births 1854 deaths 19th-century American slaves 19th-century African-American politicians People from Montserrado County Signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence 19th-century Liberian judges People enslaved in Georgia (U.S. state)