Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
Former Justice Benjamin Liddon was the 26th Justice on the Supreme Court serving from 1894-1897. His ancestors were among the original American settlers of Jackson County. His father died in battle as a Confederate soldier at Petersburg, Virginia.
Benjamin attended schools and worked in the lumber industry until he earned a position teaching. He studied law as well and was admitted to the bar in 1875. He served as superintendent of schools for Jackson County between 1877 and 1879 and as a member of the board of education of the West Florida Seminary (now Florida State University).
Liddon also ran for political office, serving as mayor of Marianna. His powers of oratory were considerable, and fellow attorneys remembered “an irresistible voice that charmed and swayed juries.” He used his legal skills and political contacts to advance his career in the 1880s, as he argued cases for some of the major railroad companies in the state.
He edited the Marianna Courier newspaper, taking a Democratic Party position on the news of the day. In 1894, he was chosen by Governor Henry Mitchell to sit on the Supreme Court. Only three years into his six-year term, however, Justice Liddon resigned and returned to private practice, where he felt he could better apply his political and legal talents.
He died in New Orleans while attending the wedding of his son.
Quick facts about Justice Liddon:
- Served as Justice from 1894 – 1897
- Born: September 7, 1853 – Marianna, Florida
- Died: December 21, 1909 – New Orleans, Louisiana
Former Justices
- Justice Robert J. Luck
- Justice Barbara Lagoa
- Justice Alan Lawson
- Justice James E.C. Perry
- Justice Ricky Polston
- Justice Kenneth B. Bell
- Justice Raoul G. Cantero
- Justice Peggy A. Quince
- Justice R. Fred Lewis
- Justice Barbara J. Pariente
- Justice Harry Lee Anstead
- Justice Charles Talley Wells
- Justice Major B. Harding
- Justice Gerald Kogan
- Justice Stephen H. Grimes
- Justice Rosemary Barkett
- Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr.
- Justice Raymond Ehrlich
- Justice Parker Lee McDonald
- Justice James E. Alderman
- Justice Frederick Brennan Karl
- Justice Joseph Woodrow Hatchett
- Justice Alan C. Sundberg
- Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.
- Justice Ben. F. Overton
- Justice Hal P. Dekle
- Justice David Lucius McCain
- Justice Joseph Arthur Boyd, Jr.
- Justice James Calhoun Adkins, Jr.
- Justice Vassar Benjamin Carlton
- Justice Wade Lee Hopping
- Justice Richard William Ervin
- Justice Millard Fillmore Caldwell
- Justice Stephen C. O'Connell
- Justice Benjamin Campbell Thornal
- Justice Edward Harris Drew
- Justice John Elie Mathews
- Justice Bonnie Kaslo Roberts
- Justice Tolbert Frank Hobson
- Justice Paul Dryden Barns
- Justice Harold Leon "Tom" Sebring
- Justice Alto Lee Adams
- Justice Elwyn Thomas
- Justice Roy Harrison Chapman
- Justice Fred Henry Davis
- Justice Rivers Henderson Buford
- Justice Louie Willard Strum
- Justice Armstead Brown
- Justice William Glenn Terrell
- Justice Thomas Franklin West
- Justice Jefferson Beale Browne
- Justice William Hull Ellis
- Justice Charles Breckenridge Parkhill
- Justice James Bryan Whitfield
- Justice William Adams Hocker
- Justice Evelyn Croom Maxwell
- Justice Robert Spratt Cockrell
- Justice Thomas M. Shackleford
- Justice Francis Beauregard Carter
- Justice Benjamin Sullivan Liddon
- Justice Milton Harvey Mabry
- Justice Robert Fenwick Taylor
- Justice Henry Laurens Mitchell
- Justice Geoge Pettus Raney
- Justice George Gray Mcwhorter
- Justice Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh
- Justice Franklin D. Fraser
- Justice James Diament Westcott, Jr.
- Justice Ossian Bingley Hart
- Justice Edwin M. Randall
- Justice Samuel James Douglas
- Justice James Mcnair Baker
- Justice Augustus Emmet Maxwell
- Justice David Shelby Walker
- Justice William Augustus Forward
- Justice Bird Murphy Pearson
- Justice Charles H. Dupont
- Justice Benjamin D. Wright
- Justice Albert Gallatin Semmes
- Justice Leslie Atchinson Thompson
- Justice Walker Anderson
- Justice Joseph Bradford Lancaster
- Justice George W. Macrae
- Justice George Sydney Hawkins
- Justice Thomas Baltzell
- Justice Thomas Douglas
Contact Information
Florida Supreme Court
500 South Duval Street
Tallahassee, Florida
32399-1925 | EMAIL
Talking with Justices and Staff