Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon

Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon

Former Justice Benjamin Liddon was the 26th Justice on the Supreme Court serving from 1894-1897. His ancestors were among the original American settlers of Jackson County. His father died in battle as a Confederate soldier at Petersburg, Virginia.

Benjamin attended schools and worked in the lumber industry until he earned a position teaching. He studied law as well and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He served as superintendent of schools for Jackson County between 1877 and 1879 and as a member of the board of education of the West Florida Seminary (now Florida State University).

Liddon also ran for political office, serving as mayor of Marianna. His powers of oratory were considerable, and fellow attorneys remembered “an irresistible voice that charmed and swayed juries.”  He used his legal skills and political contacts to advance his career in the 1880s, as he argued cases for some of the major railroad companies in the state.

He edited the Marianna Courier newspaper, taking a Democratic Party position on the news of the day.  In 1894, he was chosen by Governor Henry Mitchell to sit on the Supreme Court. Only three years into his six-year term, however, Justice Liddon resigned and returned to private practice, where he felt he could better apply his political and legal talents.

He died in New Orleans while attending the wedding of his son.

Quick facts about Justice Liddon:

• Served as Justice from 1894 – 1897
• Born: September 7, 1853 – Marianna, Florida
• Died: December 21, 1909 – New Orleans, Louisiana