Benjamin F. Leiter

{{Infobox officeholder

| name= Benjamin Franklin Leiter

|image=Benjamin F. Leiter-ppmsca.26749.jpg

|caption=in 35th Congress

| state= Ohio

| district= 18th

| party= Republican

| term_start = March 4, 1855

| term_end = March 3, 1859

| preceded= George Bliss

| succeeded= Sidney Edgerton

|state_house2=Ohio

|district2=Stark County

|term_start2=December 4, 1848

|term_end2=December 1, 1850

|preceded2=John S. Cock

|succeeded2=Samuel Krider

|order3=13th

|office3=Mayor of Canton

|term_start3=1852

|term_end3=1853

|preceded3=J.G. Lester

|succeeded3=John Lahm

|order4=15th

|office4=Mayor of Canton

|term_start4=1854

|term_end4=1855

|preceded4=John Lahm

|succeeded4=Peter Chance

| birth_date = {{birth date|1813|10|13}}

| birth_place = Leitersburg, Maryland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1866|6|17|1813|10|13}}

| death_place = Canton, Ohio

|restingplace=West Lawn Cemetery

|spouse=Catherine Burger

|children=seven

}}

Benjamin Franklin Leiter (October 13, 1813 – June 17, 1866) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer, teacher and justice of the peace from Ohio. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1855 to 1859.

Biography

Born in Leitersburg, Maryland, Leiter received a limited schooling as a child. He taught school in Maryland from 1830 to 1834 before moving to Ohio where he continued teaching from 1834 to 1842. He studied law at the office of David A. Starkweather.{{ cite book |title=Old Landmarks of Canton and Stark County, Ohio |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Danner |year=1904 |pages= 261–263 |publisher=B F Brown | location=Logansport, Indiana |oclc=79257924 }} He was admitted to the bar in 1842, commencing practice in Canton, Ohio.{{citation needed |date=September 2023}} Leiter was a justice of the peace and mayor of Canton for ten years.[http://cantonohio.gov/mayor/?pg=345 list of mayors, cantonohio.gov] He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1848 and 1849, serving as Speaker of the House in the latter year. Leiter was elected an Oppositionist and later Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1854, serving from 1855 to 1859. He died in Canton, Ohio, on June 17, 1866, and was interred in Canton in West Lawn Cemetery.{{citation needed |date=September 2023}}

In 1836, Leiter married Catherine Burger of Canton. They had seven children.{{cite book |title=History of Leitersburg district, Washington County, Md: including its land tenure... |first=Herbert C. |last=Bell |year=1898 |publisher=self |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyleitersb00bellgoog/page/n203 187] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyleitersb00bellgoog}} He was a Lutheran.