Benjamin W. Leigh

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Benjamin Watkins Leigh (June 18, 1781 – February 2, 1849) was a Virginia lawyer and politician from Richmond. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates (1811–1813) and later in the United States Senate (1834–1836). He was chosen to fill a Senate vacancy and was reelected in 1835, resigning on July 4, 1836.

In Virginia, Leigh helped revise the Code in 1819, participated in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829–1830, and worked as a reporter for the Virginia Court of Appeals (1829–1841). He also represented Dinwiddie County in the House and, later, Henrico County (1830–31). Leigh was a founding member of the Virginia Historical Society (1831) and its first standing committee chair. After leaving the Senate, he practiced law in Richmond.

During his time in the Senate, slavery was a major issue. Leigh supported measures related to governing anti-slavery petitions and urged South Carolina to avoid escalation. He died in Richmond and is buried at Shockoe Hill Cemetery. His home, the Benjamin Watkins Leigh House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marriages: He married three times — Mary Selden Watkins (1802–1813), Susanna Colston (married 1813; she died later), and Julia Wickham (married 1821; died 1849). With Susanna he had two children.