Benjamin D. Silliman

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Benjamin D. Silliman

| image = Benjamin Douglas Silliman (1805–1901).png

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Benjamin Douglas Silliman

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1805|09|14}}

| birth_place = Newport, Rhode Island

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1901|01|24|1805|09|14}}

| death_place = Brooklyn, New York

| resting_place = Green-Wood Cemetery

| occupation = Lawyer, politician

| awards =

| spouse =

| children =

| education = Yale College

| signature =

| party = {{Plainlist|

}}

| office1 = United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York

| term_start1 = 1865

| term_end1 = 1866

| office2 = Member of the New York State Assembly

| term2 = 1838

}}

Benjamin Douglas Silliman (September 14, 1805 – January 24, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

Silliman was born on September 14, 1805, in Newport, Rhode Island, son of Gold Selleck Silliman and Hepsa Ely. His paternal grandfather was General Gold Selleck Silliman, the King's Attorney for Fairfield County and a participant of the American Revolution.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVkdAQAAIAAJ|title=Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University, Deceased from June, 1900, to June, 1910|publisher=The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co.|year=1910|location=New Haven, C.T.|pages=2–4|via=Google Books}} His paternal great-grandfather was Judge Ebenezer Silliman, who was Speaker of the Connecticut House for seven years, a member the Connecticut Council for 28 years, and a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court for 23 years. A maternal great-great-grandfather was Reverend Joseph Fish, a descendant of Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEI4AQAAMAAJ|title=History of the Bar and Bench of New York|publisher=New York History Company|year=1897|editor-last=McAdam|editor-first=David|volume=II|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=338–342|editor-last2=Bischoff|editor-first2=Henry|editor-last3=Clarke|editor-first3=Richard H.|editor-last4=Dykman|editor-first4=Jackson O.|editor-last5=Van Cott|editor-first5=Joshua M.|editor-last6=Reynolds|editor-first6=George G.|via=Google Books}} When he was 10, the family moved to Greenwich Village in New York City. The ground the Silliman home stood later became home to the Jefferson Market Courthouse.

Silliman attended Yale College. His father, both grandfathers, and great-grandfather all attended Yale as well. He graduated with a B.A. in 1824 and received an M.A. in 1827. He studied law in Yale in 1824 and 1825.{{Cite book|last=Tuttle|first=Roger W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZ-wCGpba1AC|title=Biographies of Graduates of the Yale Law School, 1824-1899|publisher=The Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor Company|year=1911|location=New Haven, C.T.|pages=10–11|via=Google Books}} His graduating class included Connecticut Chief Justice Origen S. Seymour, New York Attorney General Willis Hall, New York Secretary of State Elias W. Leavenworth, and Richard F. Cleveland, father of future U.S. President Grover Cleveland.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=25 January 1901|title=Benj. D. Silliman Dead|volume=L|page=7|newspaper=The New York Times|issue=15928 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/01/25/102623708.pdf |access-date=2023-03-16}} By the time he died, he was the last surviving member of his Yale class and Yale's oldest living graduate. After graduating, he spent a year working in Yale as Assistant in Chemistry under his uncle, Professor Benjamin Silliman.

Silliman then studied law in the law office of Chancellor James Kent and his son William Kent. He was admitted to the bar in 1829 and began practicing law in New York City and in Brooklyn, where he lived.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kl4oAAAAYAAJ|title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography|publisher=James T. White & Company|year=1896|volume=VI|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=54–55|via=Google Books}} With some interruptions for public service, he practiced law for 71 years. For over half a century he served as counsel of the Union Ferry Company, the National Bank of Commerce of Brooklyn, and Green-Wood Cemetery. He received an honorary LL.D. from Columbia University in 1873 and from Yale University in 1874. At the time of his death, he was the oldest practicing lawyer in the state of New York.

In 1837, Silliman was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Whig.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=16 November 1837|title=Kings County Official Canvas|volume=XXIX|page=3|newspaper=The Long-Island Star|issue=43|publication-place=Brooklyn, N.Y.|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/117447254/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}} He served in the Assembly in 1838 as one of two representatives of Kings County.{{Cite book|last=Murlin|first=Edgar L.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YpFFAQAAMAAJ|title=The New York Red Book|publisher=James B. Lyon|year=1896|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=461|via=Google Books}} He was a delegate to the 1839 Whig National Convention.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8kAWmUwjLaUC|title=Proceedings of the Democratic Whig National Convention, Which Assembled at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the Fourth of December, 1839|publisher=R. S. Elliott & Co.|year=1839|location=Harrisburg, P.A.|pages=4, 28|via=Google Books}} In the 1842 United States House of Representatives election, he was the Whig candidate for New York's 2nd congressional district,{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=15 October 1842|title=Congressional Nomination|volume=XXXIV|page=2|newspaper=Brooklyn Evening Star|issue=555 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/117476662/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}} but he lost to Henry C. Murphy of the Democratic Party.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=17 November 1842|title=Kings County Official Canvas|volume=I|page=2|newspaper=The Brooklyn Eagle|issue=289 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50303238/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}} In 1865, he was appointed the first United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=22 March 1865|title=The New United States Court|volume=25|page=2|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|issue=65 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50247269/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}} He resigned in 1866 due to the position interfering with his private practice.{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=February 1901|title=Obituaries: Benjamin D. Silliman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JL5CAQAAMAAJ|journal=The American Lawyer|location=New York, N.Y.|volume=IX|issue=2|pages=75|via=Google Books}} He was a delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention.{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lLzpZ2F3LEYC|title=Official Proceedings of the National Republican Conventions of 1868, 1872, 1876, and 1880|publisher=Charles W. Johnson|year=1903|location=Minneapolis, M.N.|pages=348|via=Google Books}} In 1872, he was appointed to the New York Constitutional Commission of 1872-1873.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=26 November 1872|title=The New Commission|volume=XXII|page=5|newspaper=The New York Times|issue=6611 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1872/11/26/79201952.pdf |access-date=2023-03-16}} In the 1873 New York state election, he was the Republican candidate for Attorney General of New York.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=25 September 1873|title=The State Convention|volume=XXIII|page=8|newspaper=The New York Times|issue=6871 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1873/09/25/79048794.pdf |access-date=2023-03-16}} He lost this election to Democrat Daniel Pratt.{{Cite book|last=McBride|first=Alexander|url=https://archive.org/details/eveningjournalal1874slsn/page/72/mode/2up|title=The Evening Journal 1874 Almanac|publisher=Weed, Parsons & Co.|year=1874|location=Albany, N.Y.|pages=72–73|via=Internet Archive}}

Silliman never married. He was a founder of the Union Club and the Long Island Historical Society, president of the Yale Alumni Association,{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=30 January 1901|title=Death of Mr. Silliman|volume=X|page=154|newspaper=Yale Alumni Weekly|issue=18|location=New Haven, C.T.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4PY9AQAAMAAJ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Google Books}} a director of Green-Wood Cemetery (which he helped incorporate while in the Assembly), president of the Brooklyn Club, first president of the New England Society of Brooklyn, a manager of the New York House of Refuge, and a vice-president and co-founder of the New York City Bar Association.

Silliman died at home of bronchial pneumonia on January 24, 1901.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=24 January 1901|title=Benjamin D. Silliman Passed Away To-Day|volume=61|pages=1–2|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|issue=23 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50396310/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}} He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery.{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=28 January 1901|title=Body of B. D. Silliman at Rest in Greenwood|volume=61|page=2|newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|issue=27 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50396480/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |via=Brooklyn Public Library: Historical Newspapers}}

References

External links

[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/sigerson-silon.html#740.01.54 The Political Graveyard]
{{Find a Grave|57671310}}
[https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/finding-aids/D382 Benjamin Douglas Silliman Papers] at the University of Rochester

{{succession box

| title = U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York

| years = 1865–1866

| before = Office Established

| after = Benjamin F. Tracy

}}

Category:1805 births

Category:1901 deaths

Category:Politicians from Newport, Rhode Island

Category:People from Greenwich Village

Category:Yale College alumni

Category:Lawyers from Brooklyn