{{Short description|American judge}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Nathaniel Bennett | honorific_suffix = | image = Nathaniel Bennett.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court | term_start = December 22, 1849 | term_end = January 1, 1852 | appointer = Legislature | predecessor = New office created by adoption of the Constitution of 1849 | successor = Hugh Murray | office1 = Senator from the district of San Francisco, California State Senate | term_start1 = December 15, 1849 | term_end1 = December 21, 1849 | appointer1 = Direct election | predecessor1 = New seat at creation of state | successor1 = David C. Broderick | birth_date = {{Birth date|1818|06|27}} | birth_place = Clinton, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1886|04|20|1818|06|27}} | death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Hamilton College<BR>Yale University <small>(B.A.)</small> | signature = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Nathaniel Bennett''' (June 27, 1818 – April 20, 1886) was one of the first Associate Justices of the California Supreme Court.
==Early life and education== On June 27, 1818, Bennett was born in Clinton, New York, to a family of merchants and farmers.<ref name="altaobit"/><ref name="tully">{{cite book|last1=Shuck|first1=Oscar Tully|title=History of the Bench and Bar of California: Being Biographies of Many Remarkable Men, a Store of Humorous and Pathetic Recollections, Accounts of Important Legislation and Extraordinary Cases, Comprehending the Judicial History of the State|date=1901|publisher=Commercial Printing House|location=Los Angeles, CA|pages=445–446|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-lYAAAAMAAJ&q=o+Buffalo+to+a+military+school%2C+then+lately+established+by+the+celebrated+Captain+Partridge%2C&pg=PA445|accessdate=July 31, 2017}} Entry for Nathaniel Bennett.</ref> Bennett was raised on a farm in Erie County, New York, and beginning at age 12 he attended military academies in Buffalo and then in Canandaigua, New York.<ref name="leading">{{cite book|last1=Shuck|first1=Oscar Tully|title=Representative and leading men of the Pacific|date=1870|publisher=Bacon and Company|page=545|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7UHAAAAIAAJ&q=marriage+%22nathaniel+bennett%22+san+francisco&pg=PA545|accessdate=August 1, 2017}}</ref> In 1835, he studied at Hamilton College for one year, and then completed his degree at Yale University.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hamilton College catalogue|url=https://archive.org/stream/hamiltoncollege8488hami/hamiltoncollege8488hami_djvu.txt|publisher=Hamilton College|accessdate=July 31, 2017|location=Clinton, NY|page=62|date=1884|quote=Obituary Record for 1885-86, Class of 1835, Nathaniel Bennett}}</ref> After graduation, he read law and was admitted to the New York bar in 1840 as an attorney and in 1843 as a counselor.<ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court, October Term|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1843-11-01/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=0&words=Bennett+Nathaniel&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=%22nathaniel+bennett%22&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=New-York Daily Tribune|publisher=Library of Congress Historic Newspapers|date=November 1, 1843|page=2|quote=The following is a list of the counselors and attorneys admitted to practice, after examination on Thursday: Counsellors-Nathaniel Bennett, Jr.}}</ref> He then engaged in private practice with Eli Cook, whose brother was an attorney in California.
In Bennett's youth, he was a follower of the Democratic Party, but a horseback tour in Fall 1842 of several southern states caused him to switch his allegiance.<ref name="tully"/> Questioning his previous politics, he followed the Barnburner faction of the Democratic Party, attending the 1848 convention in Buffalo that nominated Martin Van Buren for President of the United States.<ref name="leading"/> In 1856, Bennett joined the Republican Party at its formation.
==Legal and judicial career== In January 1849, Bennett and a group of friends decided to move to California. Arriving in June 1849, they went to mine the gold fields on the Tuolumne River.<ref name="tully"/> In Fall 1849, he returned to San Francisco and began a law firm with John Satterlee, who was part of the group which moved with Bennett and in 1851 became a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court.<ref>{{cite news|title=Demise of Judge Satterlee|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18760121.2.16&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22John+Satterlee%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=21 January 1876|page=1}}</ref> After the adoption of the constitution of California in November 1849, Bennett was elected a state senator from the district of San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news|title=Election - The Results|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=WAC18491115.2.4&srpos=11&e=------184-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Weekly Alta California|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=15 November 1849|quote=San Francisco, Nathaniel Bennett, elected, 1,592 votes}}</ref>
In December 1849, the new legislature elected Bennett, along with Henry A. Lyons, as the first associate justices, and S. Clinton Hastings as chief justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cschs.org/02_history/02_a.html|title=California Supreme Court History|work=California Supreme Court Historical Society|access-date=2011-08-01|archive-date=2011-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806050909/http://cschs.org/02_history/02_a.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Officers of the new State|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=WAC18491229.2.11&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Weekly Alta California|issue=52|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=29 December 1849|page=3}}</ref> On December 24, 1849, Bennett resigned his Senate seat to take up his court position.<ref name="joincalifornia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/11961|title=JoinCalifornia - Nathaniel Bennett|work=joincalifornia.com}}</ref><ref name="first">{{cite news|title=The First Legislature of California|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=WAC18491229.2.17.6&srpos=3&e=------184-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Weekly Alta California|issue=52|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=29 December 1849|page=1|quote=RESIGNATION. — Hon. Nathaniel Bennett, Senator from the District of San Francisco and Wm. Van Voorhies Representatives, have resigned their seats in their respective bodies.}}</ref> In the winter of 1849–1850, he helped prepare the Senate Judiciary committee report to the Legislature on recommendations on adoption of the civil or common law.<ref>[http://clerk.assembly.ca.gov/sites/clerk.assembly.ca.gov/files/archive/DailyJournal/1849/Volumes/1849_50_jnl.pdf#page=1 Journals, Legislature of California], 1849-1850, pp. 459-480. Report of Mr. Crosby on the Civil and Common Law, reprinted in Bennett's volume of Supreme Court cases, published in 1852.</ref> One commentator describes Bennett as one "whose decisions alone, among the early justices, show any considerable acquaintance with the Spanish Mexican system."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McMurray|first1=Orrin K.|title=The Beginnings of the Community Property System in California and the Adoption of the Common Law|journal=California Law Review|date=July 1915|volume=3|issue=5|pages=359–380, at 365, 368, 374 and 375|doi=10.2307/3474579|jstor=3474579|url=https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1108669/files/fulltext.pdf}}</ref> In October 1850, he delivered a speech on the occasion of California statehood before a large crowd in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Levee Again|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=ST18501026.2.7&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1850---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sacramento Transcript|issue=2|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 October 1850|page=2|quote=Judge Nathaniel Bennett delivers the address.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Celebrations of the Admission|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18570909.2.4&srpos=20&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1857---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=141|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=9 September 1857|volume = 9|page=1|quote=and on the 30th of that month, a grand celebration followed, with an oration by Nathaniel Bennett}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Admission Day|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18780909.2.13&srpos=36&e=------187-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=10377|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=9 September 1878|volume = 30|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Forty Years Ago, Celebration of California's Birthday as a State|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18900908.2.2&srpos=9&e=------189-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=70|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=8 September 1890|volume = 83|page=1}} Full text of Bennett's oration.</ref> On October 3, 1851, he resigned from the court,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legacy.sfgenealogy.org/sf/history/hbabs1.htm|title=San Francisco History - Historical Abstract of San Francisco, 1897, A-C|website=SFgenealogy.org}}</ref> having accepted "financial inducements" from a group of influential land owners who were hoping the court would reverse his decision in ''Woodworth v. Fulton'' (1850) 1 Cal. 295.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Grodin|first1=Joseph R.|title=California's Supreme Court and Constitution The Early Years|journal=San Francisco Attorney|date=2003|volume=29|issue=2|pages=141–162, 143, fn 13|url=http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1066|accessdate=July 25, 2017}}</ref> His seat was filled by Governor John McDougall with the appointment of Hugh Murray.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=J. Edward|title=History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1|date=1963|publisher=Bender Moss Co|location=San Francisco, CA|pages=36–42|url=http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|accessdate=August 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227124913/http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|archive-date=December 27, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
During 1851 to 1852, Bennett served as California Reporter of Decisions and, in 1853, he published the first volume of Supreme Court cases.<ref>{{cite news|title=Literary Reviews|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030313/1852-08-24/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=14&words=Bennett+Nathaniel&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=%22nathaniel+bennett%22&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=The New York Herald|date=August 24, 1852|page=3}} ''Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California'', by Nathaniel Bennett. New York: Chas. B. Norton, 1852.</ref>
After leaving the court, Bennett joined a law practice with Horace Hawes, William G. Wood, and Elisha Cook (the brother of Eli Cook, his former partner in New York) in the firm of Hawes, Wood & Cook.<ref>{{cite news|title=Law Copartnership|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18510829.2.19.1&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1851---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=260|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=29 August 1851|volume = 2|page=4}}</ref> In 1852–1853, Bennett returned home to New York to visit his family. On his return to California, he continued to practice law, including real estate title and mining litigation.<ref>{{cite news|title=District Court|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18531122.2.17&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1853---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=304|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 November 1853|volume = 4|page=3|quote=Action to recover the value of six inches of a partition wall, resting on defendant's lot. Referred to Nathaniel Bennett, Esq., to report an opinion.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18550607.2.9&srpos=2&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1855---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=1311|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=7 June 1855|volume = 9|page=2|quote=In the matter of Adams & Co., Nathaniel Bennett opened on behalf of the attaching creditors}}</ref>
In May 1856, Bennett was a delegate from the Fourth Ward of San Francisco and served as president of the Republican Party Convention held in San Francisco.<ref name="heraldobit"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Republican State Convention|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18560428.2.13&srpos=2&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1856---1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=1588|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=28 April 1856|volume = 11|page=3|quote=Delegates: Fourth Ward.— Nathaniel Bennett}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Republican State Convention, First Day|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18560501.2.11&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1856---1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=1591|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=1 May 1856|volume = 11|page=3|quote=On motion of Mr. Collins, a committee of nine was appointed by the chair on platform and resolutions, and the following gentlemen duly selected : Nathaniel Bennett, San Francisco}}</ref> At the convention, the Party nominated him to run again for the California Supreme Court on the same platform as Edward Stanly for governor, but he lost the 1857 election for Chief Justice to Stephen J. Field.<ref>{{cite news|title=Republican State Ticket|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MDH18570711.2.4&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Marysville Daily Herald|issue=284|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=11 July 1857|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Returns of the Election|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18570906.2.10&srpos=2&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1857---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=138|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 September 1857|volume = 9|page=2}}</ref>
After the defeat, in 1858 Bennett returned to Washington, D.C., on business and to his home to New York for two years.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Johnson Guano Islands|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18581216.2.23.2&srpos=1&e=------185-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22----1858---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=345|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=16 December 1858|volume = 10|page=3}}</ref> In 1859, while in Washington, he successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the United States the pueblo land grant case involving Rancho Corral de Tierra (Vasquez).<ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court Decisions|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18600702.2.29&srpos=17&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=2891|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=2 July 1860|volume = 19|page=8|quote=Resolved, That we recognize with thankfulness and pride the services of our distinguished fellow citizen, Nathaniel Bennett, before the Supreme Court of the United States, in defeating that most impudent and preposterous of all the claims presented to the late Board of Land Commissioners— 'Santillan Grant'}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hittell|first1=Theodore Henry|title=History of California, Volume 3|date=1897|publisher=N. J. Stone|page=696|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKZ5AAAAMAAJ&q=United+States+vs.+Bolton%2C+23+Howard%2C+241&pg=PA696|accessdate=July 31, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Supreme Court|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1860-03-31/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&sort=date&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=5&words=Bennett+Nathaniel&proxdistance=5&date2=1924&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=%22nathaniel+bennett%22&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Evening Star (Washington, D.C.)|publisher=Library of Congress Historic Newspapers|date=March 31, 1860|page=3|quote=Yesterday...Nathaniel Bennett, Esq., of California were admitted attorneys and counselors of this Court.}}</ref> Back in California, he continued to practice law and appeared many times before the state Supreme Court. In 1863, he advertised a law partnership with H. S. Love, called Bennett & Love.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bennett & Love|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MJ18630704.2.21.3&srpos=40&e=------186-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Marin Journal|issue=16|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=4 July 1863|volume = 3|page=3}}</ref> In January 1867, he and Elisha Cook<ref>{{cite news|title=Death of Elisha Cook|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SD18720106.2.27&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Elisha+cook%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sonoma Democrat|issue=13|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 January 1872|page=4}}</ref> began a law practice and published the ''Pacific Law Magazine'', targeted at the bar.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Pacific Law Magazine|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MDA18670116.2.11&srpos=1&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Marysville Daily Appeal|issue=13|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=16 January 1867|page=3}}</ref> Later, he formed the firm of Bennett, Machin & Owen.<ref>{{cite news|title=Solvent Debts and the Board of Equalization|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18730606.2.15&srpos=6&e=------187-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=6919|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 June 1873|volume = 45|page=2|quote=Within the past few days motions for rehearing with briefs have been filed in the Supreme Court by...J. B. Felton, Nathaniel Bennett and W. Hayes, for plaintiffs, in the case of Bartlett Doe et al. vs. Austin et al.}}</ref>
Bennett maintained an active role in public life. In May 1869, he delivered another speech in San Francisco at the completion of the Pacific Railroad.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Railway Jubilee|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690506.2.6&srpos=6&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=6987|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 May 1869|volume = 21|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Pacific Railroad, Its Completion Celebrated|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690509.2.2&srpos=23&e=------186-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=6990|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=9 May 1869|volume = 21|page=1}} Full text of speech by Nathaniel Bennett.</ref> In July 1869, continuing his interest in politics, his name was put forward at the state Republican convention to fill the Supreme Court vacancy from the retirement of Oscar L. Shafter. However, O. L. Pratt received the nomination instead.<ref>{{cite news|title=Evening Session— Adoption of Platform-Nomination of Judges=Lorenzo Sawyer and O. C. Pratt for the Supreme Bench|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18690722.2.12&srpos=7&e=------186-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 July 1869|page=1|quote=Charles A. Tuttle nominated ex-Judge Nathaniel Bennett, of San Francisco, prefacing it with highly eulogistic remarks on his character, judicial learning and fitness}}</ref> In October 1879, Bennett ran for Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court under the New Constitution Party, but garnered only one-third of the votes cast for the victor, Robert F. Morrison.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Supreme Court, From Chief Justice Hastings to Chief Justice Beatty.|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18950622.2.62&srpos=6&e=------189-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=22|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 June 1895|volume = 78|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Election|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18791006.2.16&srpos=26&e=------187-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=10767|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 October 1879|volume = 31|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=New Constitution Party|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18790625.2.16&srpos=24&e=------187-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=8|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=25 June 1879|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Its Work Ended|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18790628.2.27&srpos=23&e=------187-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=10668|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=28 June 1879|volume = 31|page=1}}</ref>
On April 20, 1886, Bennett died in San Francisco,<ref name="heraldobit">{{cite news|title=Death of Judge Bennett|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18860422.2.5&srpos=18&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Los Angeles Herald|issue=42|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 April 1886|volume = 25|page=1}}</ref> and in his will he bequeathed his volume of ''Isocrates Orations'' to the Mercantile Library. The book was referred to as "probably the oldest printed book in California."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Will of Nathanlel Bennett|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18860504.2.31&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=13399|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=4 May 1886|volume = 40|page=2}}</ref>
==Civic activities== Bennett was a member of the Society of California Pioneers.
==Personal life== Bennett's wife died a few months before him.<ref>{{cite news|title=A Terrible Assault|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SDU18731112.2.2.1&srpos=7&e=------187-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE------1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Sacramento Daily Union|issue=7054|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=12 November 1873|volume = 46|page=1}}</ref> They had no children.<ref name="heraldobit"/><ref name="altaobit">{{cite news|title=Judge Bennett Dead|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18860422.2.79&srpos=2&e=------188-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22Nathaniel+Bennett%22-ARTICLE---1886---1|accessdate=July 31, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=13387|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 April 1886|volume = 40|page=8}}</ref>
==See also== * List of justices of the Supreme Court of California * California Reporter of Decisions * S. Clinton Hastings * Henry A. Lyons
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/nathaniel-bennett/ Nathaniel Bennett]. California Supreme Court Historical Society. * [http://art.famsf.org/jaj-wilcox/judge-nathaniel-bennett-38918 Portrait of Nathaniel Bennett]. de Young Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. * [http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
{{S-start}} {{S-legal}} {{Succession box | before= New office created by adoption of the Constitution of 1849 | | title= Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court | years= 1849–1852 | after= Hugh Murray}} {{Succession box | before= New seat at creation of state | | title= Senator from the district of San Francisco, California State Senate | years= November 1849–December 21, 1849 | after= David C. Broderick}} {{S-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Nathaniel}} Category:1818 births Category:1886 deaths Category:People from Dutchess County, New York Category:People from Erie County, New York Category:Hamilton College (New York) alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of California Category:U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Category:19th-century California state court judges Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:Lawyers from San Francisco Category:Republican Party California state senators Category:People of the California Gold Rush Category:19th-century members of the California State Legislature