Judah Philip Benjamin
U. S. Senate, Louisiana, 1853-1861
Confederate Government Service, 1861-1865
Born: August 6, 1811, on the island of St. Croix, Danish West Indies (now Virgin Islands).
Died: May 8, 1884, Paris, France.
- Immigrated to Savannah, Georgia, 1816, with his parents, who later settled in Wilmington, North Carolina.
- Attended the common schools and Yale College.
- Moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, 1831, and taught school.
- Studied law, was admitted to the bar, 1832, and commenced practice in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Member of the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention, 1845.
- Presidential elector on the Whig ticket of Taylor and Fillmore, 1848.
- Elected from Louisiana as a Whig to the U. S. Senate, 1853.
- Re-elected as a Democrat, 1859, serving from March 4, 1853 - February 4, 1861, when he withdrew.
- Appointed Attorney General in the Cabinet under the provisional government of the Confederate States, February 21, 1861.
- Appointed Acting Secretary of War of the Confederate States, August 1861, serving until November 10, 1861, when he was appointed Secretary of War.
- Served as Confederate Secretary of War until February 7, 1862, when he resigned to accept the appointment as Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Jefferson Davis, serving until the end of the war.
- Moved to Great Britain, 1865.
- Studied English law at Lincoln's Inn, London, was admitted to the bar in London, 1866, and practiced.
- Engaged in newspaper and magazine work.
- Became one of the most prominent barristers in England and received the appointment of Queen's Counsel, 1872.
- Retired in 1883 from active practice and public life.
- Moved to Paris, France.
Buried: Père la Chaise Cemetery, Paris, France.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)