Justice Benjamin D. Wright
Former Justice Benjamin Wright was the ninth Justice on the Supreme Court and served in 1853. He read law and was admitted to the bar in his native state of Pennsylvania at age 20. By age 24, he had moved to Pensacola, Florida, where he began a law practice and struck up a friendship with Andrew Jackson’s protégé, Richard Keith Call, as well as Territorial Governor William P. DuVal. He was appointed to the Territorial Legislative Council in 1824 and soon also became U.S. district attorney for middle Florida.
In 1826, he transferred his appointment to become U.S. district attorney for west Florida. Wright came into conflict with Judge Henry Brackenridge in Pensacola which led to Wright losing his appointment in 1830. His law practice remained lucrative and his political support of Richard K. Call led him to run successfully for the Territorial Legislative Council in 1831, 1833, and 1837.
Voters also elected him to represent them at the 1838 Constitutional Convention. His interest in politics continued into statehood, when he was elected to the state senate in 1845. He also became a newspaper editor for the Pensacola Gazette, where his editorials criticized both Whig (his own party) and Democratic policies.
This led, eventually, to his appointment, in 1853, by Democratic Governor James Broome to fill the unexpired term of Supreme Court Chief Justice Walker Anderson, who had resigned. Voters later that year, however, elected Thomas Baltzell as the first popularly elected Chief Justice, ending Wright’s judicial career. He continued his legal practice and expanded his business interests to railroad development. He remained involved in politics but never succeeded in gaining another elected office.
Quick Facts about Justice Wright
- Served as Justice: 1851 - 1853
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
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