Samuel Benedict

Samuel Benedict (1792–1854) was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Liberia. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1792,[1][2] and purchased his freedom and that of his family.[3] He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship Indiana.[4]

Prior to Liberia's independence, Benedict was a judge of the Superior Court and a merchant.[5] He later presided over the Liberian Constitutional Convention of 1847, which officially provided Liberia's independence from the American Colonization Society.[6][7] He was one of Montserrado County's delegates at the convention and a signer of the Liberian Declaration of Independence.[7]

Representing the Anti-Administration Party (AAP), Benedict was defeated by longtime political foe Joseph Jenkins Roberts in the 1847 election to serve as Liberia's first president.[8][9][10]

Benedict later became the first Chief Justice of the Liberian Supreme Court.[10] He died in 1854.[1]