Benjamin Watkins Leigh (June 18, 1781February 2, 1849) was an American lawyer and politician from Richmond, Virginia. He served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

and represented

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Early and family life

Benjamin Watkins Leigh was born at "Gravel Hill", the

glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

of Dale Parish in Chesterfield County on June 18, 1781, the son of the Reverend William Leigh (d. 1787) and Elizabeth (Watkins) Leigh (d. 1799). He attended the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

, studied law, and began practicing in Petersburg in 1802, as well as helped raise his younger brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. Benjamin Watkins Leigh married three times: on December 24, 1802, to Mary Selden Watkins; on November 30, 1813, to Susan Colston; on November 24, 1821, to Julia Wickham.

Career

After representing Dinwiddie County in the

1811-13, Leigh moved to Richmond, where he rose rapidly in his chosen profession. He prepared the revised Code of Virginia in 1819, was a delegate to the

Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830 Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are s ...

, a reporter of the Virginia Court of Appeals 1829-41, and was again elected to the Virginia legislature, representing

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...

in the session of 1830-31. Leigh was appointed by the state legislature as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

William Cabell Rives William Cabell Rives (May 4, 1793April 25, 1868) was an American lawyer, planter, politician and diplomat from Virginia. Initially a Jackson Democrat as well as member of the First Families of Virginia, Rives served in the Virginia House of Deleg ...

; he was reelected in 1835. During Leigh's time in the Senate, the controversy over slavery reached new levels of intensity. The House of Representatives passed a "

gag rule A gag rule is a rule that limits or forbids the raising, consideration, or discussion of a particular topic, often but not always by members of a legislative or decision-making body. A famous example of gag rules is the series of rules concernin ...

" tabling all anti-slavery petitions, and a similar measure died in the Senate, though that body approved an alternate method of ignoring such petitions. President Jackson called on the Congress to censor anti-slavery publications from the federal mails, a bill the Senate defeated 25-19. Leigh proposed a statewide boycott of pro-emancipation newspapers, writing that Virginians had the right "to suppress to the utmost of our power what we deem inflammatory, dangerous, mischievous."Dunn, Susan. ''Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, & the Decline of Virginia'', 195. Every State had expressed the disapproval of South Carolina's nullification and it was Leigh who was sent to urge South Carolina to desist from carrying matters to extremities. Leigh served until his resignation on July 4, 1836. Thereafter he resumed the practice of law in Richmond. Benjamin Watkins Leigh was a founding member (1831) of the

Virginia Historical Society The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, n ...

and first chairman of its standing committee.

Death and legacy

Leigh died in Richmond on February 2, 1849, and is buried in

Shockoe Hill Cemetery The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia. History Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as the ...

. His home at Richmond, the Benjamin Watkins Leigh House, was 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 ...

in 1969.

References

Sources

*Dictionary of American Biography *Dunn, Susan. ''Dominion of Memories: Jefferson, Madison, & the Decline of Virginia''. Cambridge: Basic Books, 2007 *Hall, Cline Edwin. “The Political Life of Benjamin Watkins Leigh.” Master’s thesis, University of Richmond, 1959 *Macfarland, William H. An Address on the Life, Character, and Public Services of the Late Hon. Benjamin Watkins Leigh. Richmond: Macfarlane and Fergusson, 1851. *Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, Volume II

External links

biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leigh, Benjamin W. 1781 births 1849 deaths People from Chesterfield County, Virginia National Republican Party United States senators from Virginia Virginia National Republicans Virginia Whigs Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Richmond, Virginia Virginia lawyers College of William & Mary alumni