Henry L. Benson

Henry Lamdin Benson was an American politician and jurist in the state of Oregon. He was the 44th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 1915 to 1921 on the states highest court. He was chosen as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives for the 1897 regular session of the 19th Oregon Legislative Assembly, but a dispute between two rival factions in the House prevented the body from organizing for that session. Henrys younger brother was Oregon Governor Frank W. Benson.

Henry Benson was born in Stockton, California on July 6, 1854. Benson was born to Matilda Williamson Benson and Henry Clark Benson. By 1858 the family was living in San Jose, California, where his brother Frank was born. The family later moved to Portland, Oregon where the younger Henry was educated in Portland schools and at Portland Academy. However, for college he returned to California where he earned a degree in 1873 from the College of the Pacific in San Jose. Three years later he was admitted to practice law in California. That same year he married Susie E. Dougherty, with whom he would have six children. Then in 1880 he returned to Oregon where he became the principal of the Drain Normal School before later serving as the superintendent of schools for Grants Pass, Oregon. In 1886 he passed the Oregon bar and practiced in Salem until 1891 when he went back to Grants Pass.

Source: Wikipedia