# Benjamin Welch

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Welch
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Welch.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Welch
> Source revision: 1352411049
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American politician}}

'''Benjamin Welch Jr.''' (c. 1818 – April 14, 1863) was an American politician.

==Life==
He studied law with Judge Mann in [Utica, New York](/source/Utica%2C_New_York). Afterwards he edited the ''Utica Democrat'' and then the ''Buffalo Republican'' at [Buffalo, New York](/source/Buffalo%2C_New_York).

In [1849](/source/1849_New_York_state_election), he ran for State Treasurer on the Democratic ticket but was defeated by the [Whig](/source/United_States_Whig_Party)/[Anti-Rent](/source/Anti-Rent_War) candidate [Alvah Hunt](/source/Alvah_Hunt). In [1851](/source/1851_New_York_state_election), he ran again on the [Democratic](/source/United_States_Democratic_Party) ticket for [New York State Treasurer](/source/New_York_State_Treasurer). This time he was defeated by [James M. Cook](/source/James_M._Cook) by a margin of only 228 votes (200,693 for Cook; 200,465 for Welch Jr.), but he contested successfully the election on the ground that the ballots cast for "B. Welch", "Benjamin Welch" (without the "Jr.") and "Benjamin C. Welch Jr." (with erroneous middle initial) had not been counted, but had been cast for him. On November 20, 1852, he succeeded to the office for the remainder of the term.

In 1855, he joined the [American Party](/source/Know_Nothing), and later the [Republican Party](/source/United_States_Republican_Party).

In 1859, he was appointed [Commissary-General of the State Militia](/source/Commissary) by Governor [Edwin D. Morgan](/source/Edwin_D._Morgan). In 1862 he joined the staff of General [John Pope](/source/John_Pope_(general)), but soon after contracted a disease of which he died on April 14, 1863, in [Clifton Springs](/source/Clifton_Springs%2C_New_York), [Ontario County, New York](/source/Ontario_County%2C_New_York).

==Sources==
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1852/01/01/74853612.pdf] Official state canvass, in NYT on January 1, 1852
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=E3sFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA35 Google Books] ''The New York Civil List'' compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 35; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1855/05/10/75799685.pdf] Know Nothing convention, in NYT on May 10, 1855
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1859/01/13/78882938.pdf] Appointed Commissary-General, in NYT on January 13, 1859
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=mz0EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA259] ''The People vs. James M. Cook'' in ''Reports of Cases in Law and Equity in the Supreme Court of the State of New York'' by Oliver L. Barbour (Vol. XIV, pages 259ff; Gould, Banks & Co., Albany NY, 1853)
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=rX0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA749] ''The Military and Naval History of the Rebellion in the United States'' by William Jewett Tenney (1865; page 749)

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title = [New York State Treasurer](/source/New_York_State_Treasurer) | before = [James M. Cook](/source/James_M._Cook) | after = [Elbridge G. Spaulding](/source/Elbridge_G._Spaulding) | years = 1852–1853}}
{{s-end}}

{{NYSTreasurer}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Benjamin Jr.}}
Category:1810s births
Category:1863 deaths
Category:New York state treasurers
Category:Politicians from Buffalo, New York
Category:Politicians from Utica, New York
Category:New York (state) Democrats
Category:New York (state) Know Nothings
Category:19th-century American politicians
Category:New York (state) Republicans
Category:People from Clifton Springs, New York
Category:Journalists from New York (state)
Category:19th-century American male journalists
Category:19th-century American newspaper editors

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Welch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Welch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Welch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.