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Brewster, Benjamin Harris, 1816-1888

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1816 - 1888

Biographical History

Benjamin Harris Brewster (1816-1888) was an American politician and attorney. He served as the U.S. Attorney General from 1881 to 1885.

Benjamin Harris Brewster was born October 13, 1816 in Salem, New Jersey to Francis Enoch Brewster and Maria Hampton. He attended Princeton in 1834, and, after graduating, studied law in the office of Eli Kirk Price, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer. He was accepted into the bar and began practicing law in 1838. Brewster married Elizabeth von Myerbach de Reinfeldts in 1857. Elizabeth died in 1868, and Brewster remarried Mary Walker on July 12, 1870. Together they had one child, a son. Brewster was appointed Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 1867 by Governor John W. Geary. In 1881, Brewster was appointed U.S. Attorney General, a capacity he served in until 1885. He died April 4, 1888 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Citation:
His Address on the late Eli K. Price, 1886?: t.p. (Benjamin Harris Brewster)

LC in OCLC, 3-29-86 (hdg.: Brewster, Benjamin Harris, 1816-1888; usage: B. H. Brewster)

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Thomas L. Kane correspondence with national and local political leaders, 1845-1877

 Sub-Series — Box 63: Series 1; Series 3; Series 4; Series 11 [Barcode: 31197232570009]
Identifier: Vault MSS 792 Series 4 Sub-Series 5
Scope and Contents

Contains letters between Kane and political figures at the national, state, and territorial levels regarding issues and appointments. Materials date between 1845 and 1877.

Dates: 1845-1877
Found in: L. Tom Perry Special Collections / Vault MSS 792, Kane family papers / Thomas L. Kane papers on the American West and politics

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