Samuel Benedict was a Liberian

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

 politician and jurist who served as the 1st Chief Justice of Liberia

Chief Justice of Liberia

The Chief Justice of Liberia is the head of the judicial branch of the Government of the Republic of Liberia and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Liberia.-Appointment and term:...

. He was born a slave in the U.S. state of Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 in 1792, and purchased his freedom and that of his family. He emigrated to Liberia in 1835, on the ship Indiana.

Prior to Liberia’s independence, Benedict was a judge of the Superior Court and a merchant. He later presided over the Liberian Constitutional Convention of 1847, which officially provided Liberia’s independence from the American Colonization Society

American Colonization Society

The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...

. He was one of Montserrado County

Montserrado County

Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...

’s delegates at the convention and a signer of the Liberian Declaration of Independence

Liberian Declaration of Independence

The Liberian Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Liberian Constitutional Convention on 16 July 1847 to announce that the Commonwealth of Liberia, a colony founded and controlled by the private American Colonization Society, was now an independent state known as the Republic of...

.

Representing the Anti-Administration Party (AAP), Benedict was defeated by longtime political foe Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first and seventh President of Liberia. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, Roberts emigrated to Liberia in 1829 as a young man. He opened a trading store in Monrovia, and later engaged in politics...

 in the 1847 election to serve as Liberia’s first president.

Benedict later became the first Chief Justice of the Liberian Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Liberia

The Supreme Court of Liberia is the highest judicial body in the West African nation of Liberia. The court consists of the Chief Justice of Liberia and four Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate...

. He died in 1854.