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BENSON, Egbert, a Delegate and a Representative from New York; born in New York City
June 21, 1746; was graduated from Kings College (now Columbia University) in
1765; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in New York
City; deputy to the provincial convention in 1775; member of the council of
safety in 1777 and 1778; in 1777 was appointed the first attorney general of
New York and served until 1789; member of the State assembly 1777-1781 and
again in 1788; in 1783 was appointed one of the three commissioners to direct
the embarkation of the Tory refugees for the loyal British provinces; associate
judge of the supreme court of New York 1784-1801; Member of the Continental
Congress in 1784, 1787 and 1788; member of the State constitutional convention
in 1788, which ratified the Federal Constitution; elected as a
Pro-Administration candidate to the First and Second Congresses (March 4,
1789-March 3, 1793); regent of the New York University 1789-1802; appointed
judge of the United States Circuit Court, second circuit, February 20, 1801;
served as the first president of the New-York Historical Society from 1804 to
1816; elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth Congress and served from March
4, 1813, to August 2, 1813, when he resigned; died in Jamaica, Long Island,
N.Y., August 24, 1833; interment in Prospect Cemetery.
BibliographyHolt, Wythe, and David A. Nourse.
Egbert Benson, First Chief Judge of the Second Circuit (1801-1802):
Essays. New York: Second Circuit Committee on the Bicentennial of the
United States Constitution, 1987.
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