Judah P. Benjamin
(1811-1884)
A worthy Namesake

Scholar - Statesman - Queen's Counsel

From humble beginnings, Judah P. Benjamin would become the first American Jew to hold a number of significant public positions, and would successfully carved\ out three separate distinguished public careers under the flags of three different nations.   His intellect, affable personality, work ethic, business acumen, and his oratory and communication skills lead to his meteoric rise and contributed greatly to American history.  Though ridiculed by Northern anti-Semites, the South welcomed Benjamin into her bosom, allowing him to rise to heights no other Jewish-American would rise to for decades in America.

Early Years:  Judah Philip Benjamin was born in the British Virgin Islands to Sephardic English immigrant parents (Philip and Rebecca de Mendes Benjamin) who were of Dutch and Portuguese extraction.  He was brought to North Carolina at around age two.  At first the family lived in Wilmington where Philip was in business with uncle Jabob Levy.  In 1817, the Benjamins followed Mr. Levy up the Cape Fear River to Fayetteville, NC.  There young Judah received his first formal education at a private academy run by Scottish Presbyterian minister Colin McIver.  In 1819, an economic downturn left Mr. Levy broke and the Benjamins relocated to Charleston, South Carolina. Benjamin, a good student, was admitted to a private academy in Charleston run by Rufus Southworth, financed by the Hebrew Orphan Society.

A brilliant child, at age 14 he studied law at Yale.  But without completing his studies he moved to New Orleans.

Making His Mark:

 In New Orleans, Benjamin clerked for a notary.  This a position enabled him to learn routine legal procedures and read law in his spare time.  He also supplemented his income by teaching English to French-speaking Creoles, an activity that brought him into contact with the wealthy St. Martin family.  He was admitted to the Bar in December 1832, then established his own practice of law.

On February 12, 1833, at age 22, he married  16 year old Natalie St. Martin in a Catholic Ceremony.   At age 23 Judah wrote a reference book on law that that became a standard text for lawyers and judges in the State.  As his practice prospered, his new life of money and fine things seemed to make his new bride Natalie only momentarily happy. 

In 1852, the flooding Mississippi reached the very steps of Belle Chase.   The crop of sugar was destroyed and Judah did not have the time to supervise its replanting.   He decided to sell Belle Chase for a sum large enough for him to retire the debt, buy a fine house in Washington, and move his family to the elegant home.  His years as a planter were ended.

Public Life:

Louisiana Legislature - Benjamin  was elected to the Louisiana legislature in 1842.

1st Jewish American in the U.S. Senate - In 1852, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana.  This would make the Honorable Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana the first acknowledged Jew elected to the US Senate (1852).  Florida’s first Senator, David (Levy) Yulee (elected in 1842, claimed he was not Jewish at all, but descended from a Moroccan prince.  Thus because Benjamin acknowledged his Judaism, it can be said he took his seat in the halls of history as the first acknowledged Jew in America’s most influential legislative institution.)

U.S. Supreme Court Nomination- Senator Benjamin was so eloquent and so well thought of by two Presidents that he was offered nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (Millard Filmore - 1852 and Franklin Pierce  - 1854).  Benjamin declined on as he could not serve and maintain his law practice.   Had he accepted, he would have been the first Jewish American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Consequently, 62 years later the first would become Louis Brandeis in 1916,nominated by President Woodrow Wilson.

Famous New Year's Eve Speech on Senate Floor - Often regarded as his "farewell speech" to the Senate, historians consider Benjamin’s farewell address to the U.S. Senate on New Year’s Eve, 1860, one of the great speeches in American history. The Senate gallery was packed to hear the most eloquent voice of the south. It was a moment both of tragedy and triumph as he pleaded with his colleagues against the war of brothers to come: 

“And now Senators…indulge in no vain delusion that duty or conscience, interest or honor, imposes upon you the necessity of invading our States or shedding the blood of our people. You have not possible justification for it.” 

Varina  Davis, soon to become the Confederate First Lady, wrote that “his voice rose over the vast audience distinct and clear…he held his audience spellbound for over an hour and so still were they that a whisper could be heard…” 

“[Benjamin continued] What may be the fate of this horrible contest, no man can tell…but this much, I will say: the fortunes of war may be adverse to our arms, you may desolate into our peaceful land, and with torch and fire you may set our cities in flame…you may, under the protection of your advancing armies, give shelter to the furious fanatics who desire, and profess to desire, nothing more than to add all the horrors of a servile insurrection to the calamities of civil war…but you can never subjugate us, you never can convert the free sons of the soil into vassals, paying tribute to your power; and you never, never can degrade them to the level of an inferior and servile race. Never! Never!” 

There was an immediate rush of reaction to the speech from the Southern contingent and tumultuous applause from the galleries.  Mrs. Davis reported that “many ladies were in tears. The Vice President tried in vain to prevent the applause but could not control the multitude who were wild with enthusiasm. There were even grudging compliments from the Northern press and a quote from a London correspondent that “it was better than our Benjamin [Disraeli] could have done.”   The enthusiasm in the South was matched by the venom with tones of anti-Semitism in the North.  The Boston Transcript of January 5, 1861, published an editorial under the heading “The Children of Israel” in which it attacked the support Benjamin and other Southern Jews gave to secession as indicative of the disloyalty of all American Jews.  Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, who would be elected Vice President of the United States in 1872, condemned Benjamin because “his bearing, his tone of voice, his words, all gave evidence…that his heart was in this foul and wicked plot to dismember the Union, to overthrow the government of his adopted country which gives equality of rights even to that race that stoned prophets and crucified the Redeemer of the world.” 

Confederate Cabinet - Louisiana would secede from the Union in February 1861, and accordingly, Benjamin did resign from the U.S. Senate.  President Jefferson Davis appointed Benjamin as his Attorney General on February 21, 1861. The President chose him because, in Davis's own words, he "had a very high reputation as a lawyer, and my acquaintance with him in the Senate had impressed me with the lucidity of his intellect, his systematic habits, and capacity for labor."  Benjamin plunged into the cabinet policy debates on all aspects of the Confederacy and developed a reputation as one who loved details, complexity, and problem solving.   He would become known as the "Brains of the Confederacy".   Confederate President Davis' appointment would catapult Benjamin to the lofty status of becoming the 1st Jewish American cabinet member.   (Not until 1906, would a USA President make a similar appointment -  Oscar Straus was appointed Sec. of Commerce and Labor by President Taft).  Later, Benjamin was appointed Secretary of War.  He didn’t have a military background, but in this role, he was the mouthpiece for Jefferson Davis, himself, deflecting criticism that could have been leveled on Davis, his affable style able to "smooth over" feathers Davis ruffled.  In her autobiography, Jefferson Davis’s wife, Varina, informs us that Benjamin spent twelve hours each day at her husband’s side, tirelessly shaping every important Confederate strategy and tactic. Yet, Benjamin never spoke publicly or wrote about his role and burned his personal papers before his death.  He acted as an intermediary and mouthpiece, but always following Davis’ orders.  His last post was as Secretary of State, and it was under him that the Seal of the Confederacy was commissioned, as a way to gain prestige in England.  He worked to enlist aid from England and France, in diplomatic recognition of the Confederate State of America.

Escape from Capture - Fearing capture and imprisonment (President Davis and Vice President Stephens were both captured and imprisoned), with a immense $40,000.00 (a half million in today's dollars) bounty imposed by the U.S. Government, Benjamin embarked on a harrowing escape.  He had planned for the eventuality, and developed a disguise -  a Frenchman seeking land on which to settle.  He was able to speak broken English like a Frenchman, and he wore a disguise of a hat, goggles, cloak, and full beard, which he had recently grown.  What is sometimes also cited is the fact that he had a Colonel H. J. Levy with him as a traveling companion through Georgia. It is also alleged that before he left Richmond he had a Confederate passport made which stated he was a Frenchman traveling through the South. Most sources also note that he used an alias as part of his Frenchman ruse, either M.M. Bonfals, Monsieur Bonfals, or just Bonfals. If he really did use this alias, it shows that the fleeing Benjamin, who lived most of his adult life in New Orleans, Louisiana, still had a sense of humor.  Bonfals is French/Cajun for "good disguise".

 Hillsborough County, Florida men are credited with aiding his escape: Capt. McKay and Major John T. Lesley, of the Florida Cow Cavalry, who whisked him to Gamble Mansion, where he stayed a few nights before sailing from Sarasota Bay to the West Indies, evading Union men who would get rich if they were able to capture and turn in Sec. Benjamin.

Traveling in an open yawl, surviving both storm and fire at sea and with stops in Bimini, Nassau, and Havana, Cuba, Benjamin finally arrived in Southampton, England on August 30, 1865

Practice in England:

. Claiming British citizenship by birth he set about starting over in London at age 54. Though he had money to pay for his passage he earned income writing newspaper and magazine articles.  He started over as an ordinary law student and but his ability was quickly recognized and in 1866 he was called to the Bar. He rapidly made a success of his practice as a barrister, so much so that, when an 1868 general amnesty made it possible for him to return to America openly, he had no desire to leave England.

He wrote a text commonly called "Benjamin on Sales" (1868) that is still a classic in the field of British transactional law, and is studied today. Taking Silk (becoming Queen's Counsel) in 1872 in Lancashire County, he became the first Jew, and man not born in England, to be so honored. As Benjamin's legal stature and wealth increased judgeships were offered and declined as he knew he would never be able to afford the 'promotion'.   He became so successful that by 1877, he would accept no case for a fee of less than 300 guineas ($1,500). In 1879 a New York Times correspondent estimated his income to be $150,000 (over $3 million in today's dollars).

Final Years:

In preparation for his retirement Judah built a large mansion in Paris, France.  The mansion was completed in 1880.  Natalie moved back in with him.  But a severe heart attack brought on by diabetes on Christmas, 1882 forced his retirement.  Benjamin died on May 6, 1884, in Paris, at age 73, at his mansion.  Varina Davis wrote, “ Thus passed from earth one of the greatest minds of this century.”  Natalie had him buried in a crypt marked only for the families of St. Martin and Bousignac.  In 1938, the Paris Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, added this inscription to his grave:

 Because of its significance in his escape, Manatee County’s (Florida) Gamble Mansion was preserved by the Judah P. Benjamin Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and is now known as the Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park.

Today both the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy bestow awards.  The UDC's award is bestowed to any individual for outstanding achievement not necessarily related to the Confederacy in the fields of civic/community service, conservation, education, the environment, humanitarian efforts, and patriotic service. 
The SCV's award is an internal award for the Camp over 50 members maintaining the best scrapbook of its activities over the past year.