Benjamin Conley (March 1, 1815 – January 10, 1886) was an American politician from the state of Georgia, who served as the
47th Governor of Georgia from October 30, 1871, to January 12, 1872. He also previously served as the
mayor of Augusta from 1857 to 1859.
Biography
Conley was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, in 1815 and moved to
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...
, in his youth. He died in 1886 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
in an area known at the time as
West End. Conley was buried at Augusta's Magnolia Cemetery.
Political career
Conley's previous political service included the office of mayor of
Augusta, Georgia, from 1857 to 1859. Conley served as the
47th Governor of Georgia from October 30, 1871, to January 12, 1872, during
Reconstruction
Reconstruction may refer to:
Politics, history, and sociology
*Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company
*''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
and was the second
Republican governor of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
. Conley was serving as the president of the
Georgia Senate when his predecessor,
Rufus B. Bullock, was forced to resign. Under the
Constitution of Georgia in effect at that time, as the Senate president, Conley assumed the governorship and served for only two months. Conley was the last Republican to serve as governor of Georgia until 2003, when
Sonny Perdue became governor of Georgia.
References
Georgia State Archives Roster of State Governors*
External links
at the
National Governors Association
The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...
Benjamin Conley entryat
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...
*
1815 births
1886 deaths
19th-century mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators
Republican Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state)
Mayors of Augusta, Georgia
Politicians from Newark, New Jersey
Politicians from Savannah, Georgia
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