Benjamin W. Leigh

Benjamin Watkins Leigh (* June 18, 1781 in Chesterfield County, Virginia; † February 2nd 1849 in Richmond, Virginia ) was an American politician who represented the state of Virginia in the U.S. Senate.

Benjamin Leigh, the son of a clergyman, received his education from private tutors. He then attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, where he graduated in 1802. He subsequently studied law, was to the bar and commenced practice in St. Petersburg. He fought in the British -American War.

His political career began with membership of the House of Representatives from Virginia, where he Dinwiddie County was of 1811-1813. He then moved to Richmond and drove there ahead his legal career. In 1819 he was instrumental in the revision of the Code of Virginia; 1829-1841 he held the office of the court clerk at the Virginia Court of Appeals. He also took part in the 1829 and 1830 Constitutional Convention of his State.

After spending another term in Parliament from Virginia from 1830 to 1831, Leigh was chosen in 1834 as the successor of William Cabell Rives resigned in the U.S. Senate in Washington. Originally active in the National Republican Party, he moved like most of whose members later to the Whigs. Leigh moved on 26 February 1834 in the Congress a, finished Rives ' until March 3, 1835 current term and also won the next regular election for the next legislative session, but then put his hand already on July 4, 1836 from his office. He returned to Richmond, where he again worked as a lawyer and died in February 1849.

115438
de