Joseph Benham, son of Captain Robert Benham

Captain Robert Benham

Captain Robert Benham , was a frontier pioneer, served in local government and was a member of the first elected legislature for the State in Ohio, 1799 & 1800....

, was born in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

.

In 1815, Joseph graduated from the Ohio University

Ohio University

Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...

 in Athens, Ohio

Athens, Ohio

Athens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, its first graduation class.

In his famous book “Old Court House” Judge Carter reported that Benham "wore a large buff vest and a brown broadcloth frock coat. He had a graceful and easy delivery. His voice was extremely deep but melodious, and according to the narrator was a most impressive one." On February 27, 1823, President James Monroe

James Monroe

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...

 appointed him U.S. Attorney for the District of Ohio

District of Ohio

The District of Ohio was a federal judicial district of the United States created by the Federal Judiciary Act of 1801 which consisted of the Northwest and Indiana Territories...

.

In 1825, delivered a welcome speech to General La Fayette on behalf of the City of Cincinnati. Ten years later, in 1835, Joseph Benham became one of three law professors at the Cincinnati College where Jacob Burnet

Jacob Burnet

Jacob Burnet was an American jurist and statesman from Ohio.He was born in Newark, New Jersey on February 22, 1770, the son of Dr. William Burnet. He studied law, moved to the Northwest Territory and settled in Cincinnati in 1796. His half-brother David G...

 (an associate of his father in the first popularly elected legislature in Ohio)served on the Board of Trustees.

In 1839 he was one of several persons interviewed by the Ohio Democratic Party to possibly receive their nomination to the U.S Senate to replace U.S. Senator Thomas Morris

Thomas Morris (Ohio politician)

Thomas Morris was a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States Senate.Born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Morris enlisted as a Ranger to fight the Indians in 1793. He settled in western Ohio two years later. He began practicing law in Bethel, Ohio in 1804...

.

Joseph Benham died prematurely on July 15, 1840 while in New Orleans and was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Louisville. On January 1, 1858 he was re-interred in the Spring Grove Cemetery

Spring Grove Cemetery

Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum is a nonprofit garden cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the second largest cemetery in the United States and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark....

in Cincinnati; his wife Maria was buried there July 3, 1884.