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Benjamin Drake Wright

783 bytes added, 22:14, 16 January 2011
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{{Infobox Biography
| subject_name =Benjamin Drake Wright
| image_name =BdwrightBDWright-portrait.jpg| image_size =288px220px
| image_caption =
| date_of_birth =[[January 23]], [[1799]]
| place_of_birth =Wilkes-Barre, Penn.
| date_of_death =[[June 15April 28]], [[19211875]]
| place_of_death =Pensacola
| occupation =attorney, judge
| spouse =[[Josephine Wright|Josephine de la Rua]]
| parents =
| children =Six [[George Washington Wright]]<br/>Five other sons<br/>Two daughters| signature =Bdwright-sig.PNG| signaturesize =200px
}}
'''Benjamin Drake Wright''' ([[1799]]&ndash;[[1875]]) was a prominent Pensacolian attorney and civic leader.
Benjamin Drake Wright was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on 23 January 1799. He was admitted to the bar of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania on 7 April [[1820]]. Wright came to Pensacola in the Spring of [[1823]].
==Legal career==In [[1824]] he was a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of West Florida as well as United States Attorney for the part of the Territory between the Apalachicola and Suwanne Rivers. In [[1825]] he was appointed United States District Attorney for the whole of the Territory. In [[1829]], Wright served as the President of the [[Board of Aldermen of Pensacola]]. In a least [[1839]], Wright served in the Territorial Senate. In [[1841]], Wright was elected as [[Mayor of [[Pensacola]]. During the 1840s, Wright served as a federal judge, and after statehood in [[1845]], he became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Florida. In [[1866]], Wright was appointed Collector of Customs in the District of Pensacola in the State of Florida.
In [[1844]], Wright represented in court [[Jonathan Walker]], who was tried and convicted of stealing another man's slave.
 
==Other ventures==
Despite his busy professional life, Wright also edited the ''[[Pensacola Gazette]]'' from 12 March [[1834]] through the end of the Territorial period in [[1845]]. He owned the paper through [[1839]].
==Personal life==
Wright married [[Josephine de la Rua]] on 23 February [[1826]]. The two had eight children (six sons and two daughters).
==Death==Judge Wright died in Pensacola in April [[1875]]. [[Wright Street]] in [[downtown Pensacola]] is named in his honour. ==Other images==<gallery>Image:Bdwright.PNG</gallery> {{start box}}{{succession box | before = [[Charles Le Baron]] | title = [[Mayor of Pensacola]] | years = 1841 | after = [[Charles Evans]]}}{{end box}} [[Category:PeopleMayors of the City of Pensacola|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:Deceased personsWright family|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:Attorneys|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:Judges|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:Civic leaders|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:Street namesakes|Wright, Benjamin Drake]] [[Category:People buried in St. Michael's Cemetery|Wright, Benjamin Drake]]

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