| Samuel Benedict | |
| Office: | 1st Chief Justice of Liberia |
| Termstart: | 1847 |
| Termend: | 1854 |
| Nominator: | Joseph Jenkins Roberts |
| Successor: | John Day |
| Birth Date: | c. 1792 |
| Birth Place: | Georgia, United States |
| Death Date: | 1854 |
| Death Place: | Monrovia, Liberia |
Samuel Benedict (c. 1792–1854) was a Liberian politician and jurist who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Liberia. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of Georgia in 1792,[1] [2] and purchased his freedom and that of his family.[3] He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship Indiana.[4]
Prior to Liberia's independence, Benedict was a judge of the Superior Court and a merchant.[5] He later presided over the Liberian Constitutional Convention of 1847, which officially provided Liberia's independence from the American Colonization Society.[6] [7] He was one of Montserrado County's delegates at the convention and a signer of the Liberian Declaration of Independence.[7]
Representing the Anti-Administration Party (AAP), Benedict was defeated by longtime political foe Joseph Jenkins Roberts in the 1847 election to serve as Liberia's first president.[8] [9] [10]
Benedict later became the first Chief Justice of the Liberian Supreme Court.[10] He died in 1854.[1]