Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/292

 BENEDICT.

BENHAM.

BENEDICT, Lewis, soldier, was born at AU)any. N. Y., Sept. 2,1817; son of Lewis and Susiin (Stafford) Benedict. He was prejMired for college at Aurora, N. Y., and at the Albany at-adeniy. and was graduated from "Williams college in 1S37. with the degree of A.M. lie then stutlied law in Canandaigua for three years, and was licensed attorney -at-law in January, 1841, being sub.sequently admitted as counsellor in the state and federal courts. He began to practise in Albany, and in 184r) was made city attorney, serving another term by re-election. He received the apiwintment of judge-advocate-general on the staff of Gov. John Young in 1847, and the follow- ing year was elected surrogate of Albany county. In 1S49 Governor Hamilton Fi.sli appointed him judge-advocate-general on his staff, and in 1860 he .served as a member of the state assembly. In 1861 he volunteered in the army, and received the commission of lieutenant-colonel. He en- dured many hardships, being confined in Libby and Salisbury prisons. In August, 1862, he was exchanged, and was commissioned colonel of volunteers. In January, 1863, lie was made act- ing brigadier-general, and served with bravery and sagacity, particularly in the assault on Port Hudson, and in the Red River campaign. For his service at Port Hudson he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers. He fell in the battle of Pleasant Hill. La., April 9, 1864.

BENET, Stephen Vincent, soldier, was born at St. Augustine, Fla., Jan. 22, 1827. After studying at the University of Georgia he was graduated at West Point, in 1849, with the rank of brevet 2d lieutenant. He served as assistant ordnance officer at Watervliet arsenal, N. Y., during the year 1849-"50, and for the three years foUfjwing was on special duty in the ordnance bureau at Washington. In July, 1851, he was promoted 2d lieutenant. From 1854 to 1859 he was assistant ordnance officer at the St. Louis arsenal. Mo., and from 1859 to 1801 was principal assistant professor of geography, history and ethics at Wes^ Point. He served during the civil war, and from 1861 to 1864 was instructor of ordnance and the science of gunnery. Aug. 3, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of captain. He was brevetted, March 13, 1865, major and lieutenant -colonel for faithful and meritorious ser- vices in the ordnance department. He was retired by operation of law, Jan. 22, 1891. In 1855 the University of Georgia conferred upon him the degree of A.M. He is the author of a " Treatise on Military Laws, and the Practice of Courts- Martial" (1862); "Electro-Ballistic Machines and the Schultz Chronoscope " (1866; 2d ed., 1871), and a translation of Jomini's "Political and Military History of the Campaign of Water- loo " (1853). He died Jan. 22, 1895.

BENEZET, Anthony, philanthropist, was born at St. C^uentiii, France, Jan. 31, 1713, son of John Stephen Benezet, who sought refuge in Holland in 1685, and removed to London, where he joined the Society of Friends, in 1731, emigrated to America, and made his home in Philadelphia. Anthony spent some years in business, and in 1742 became an instructor in the Friends' English school. In 1755 he established a school for the instruction of women, and in 1756 was chosen one of the overseers of the pub- lic schools of Philadelphia. He was elected in 1757 a manager of the Pennsylvania hospital. In 1780 he was largely instrumental in procuring the enaction of the law which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsyl- vania. He founded a school for the benefit of the negroes, and expended a large amount of money for their good, stipulating in his will that on the decease of his wife his money should be used as a fund for the school. He is the author of " A Short Account of that Part of Africa Inhabited by the Negroes " (2d edition, 1762); " A Caution and Warning to Great Britain and her Colonies in a Short Representation of the Calamitous State of the Enslaved Negroes in the British Dominions" (1766); "Some Historical Accotmt of Guinea" (1771); " The Care of our Fellow-Creatures, the Oppressed Africans, Recom- mended to the Serious Consideration of the Legislature of Great Britain, by the People Called Quakers " (1774), and " Some Observations on the Situation and Character of the Indian Natives of this Continent " (1784). He died in Philadel- phia, Pa., May 3, 1784.

BENHAM, Andrew Ellicott Kennedy, naval officer, was born on Staten Island, N.Y^., April 10, 1832. He was warranted midshipman in the U.S. navy, Nov. 24, 1847. His earliest service on board the Plymouth and the Dolphin in the East Indies. He was at home in 1852, attached to the Saranac, and in 1853 attended the naval academy, Annapolis. He was promoted pa.st- midshipman June 10, 1853; lieutenant, Sept. 16, 1855, and serving on the St. Mary's in the Pacific squadron until 1857. He served on the coast survey and Paraguay expedition, 1858-"59, and in 1860 was attached to the Crusader of the home squadron. He took i)art in the battle of Port Royal, November, 1861, on the Bienville, and in 1862 was promoted lieutenant-commander. July 16, 1862, he commanded the gunboat Penob- scot in the Western Gvilf blockading squadron. After duty at the Brooklyn na^y yard he was de- tailed to the Susqriehanna in 1867, was pro- moted commander June 9, 1867, and did duty as lighthou.se inspector, as commander of the monitor Canonicus. and afterward of the Saufjus. In 1878 he became captain, and was placed in