Benjamin J. Lea

Benjamin J. Lea (born January 1, 1833 in Caswell County , North Carolina , †  March 15, 1894 in Brownsville , Tennessee ) was an American lawyer and politician . Between 1889 and 1891, as President of the State Senate, he was de facto lieutenant governor of the state of Tennessee, even if this office was not formally introduced until 1951.

Career

Benjamin Lea graduated from Wake Forest College in 1852 . He then moved to Tennessee, where he taught between 1852 and 1856 in Haywood County as a teacher. After studying law and his admission to the bar in 1856, he began to work in Brownsville in this profession. At the same time he embarked on a political career as a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1859 and 1861 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee . During the civil war he served in the Confederation Army , where he rose to the rank of colonel. Shortly before the end of the war, he was taken prisoner of war in 1865.

In 1876 Lea was appointed judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court . From 1878 to 1886 he held the office of Attorney General . In 1889 he became a member and president of the State Senate. So he was at the same time Deputy Governor Robert Love Taylor and de facto lieutenant governor. This office was or is constitutionally anchored in most other states; in Tennessee this has only been the case since 1951. Then he was again a judge on the Supreme Court of his state. In April 1893 he took over as Chief Justice of its chairmanship. He died in Brownsville on March 15, 1894.

Web links

• The Political Graveyard
• Benjamin Lea on the list of Presidents of the Tennessee State Senate
• Benjamin Lea in Rootsweb