Odin Benedict

{{short description|American physician, banker and politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Odin Benedict | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = August 20, 1805 | birth_place = Skaneateles, New York | death_date = {{death date and age|1874|3|11|1805|8|20}} | death_place = Dunkirk, New York | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | office1 = Member of the New York State Assembly | term_start1 = January 1, 1840 | term_end1 = December 31, 1840 | predecessor1 = Waterman Ellsworth Timothy Judson Abner Lewis | successor1 = Benjamin Douglass George A. French Robertson Whiteside | office2 = Member of the New York State Assembly | term_start2 = January 1, 1843 | term_end2 = December 31, 1843 | predecessor2 = Rossiter P. Johnson Austin Pierce Emory F. Warren | successor2 = Forbes Johnson Marcius Simons Elijah Waters | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = | education = | occupation = Politician | party = Whig | spouse = | children = | parents = | relations = | signature = | footnotes = }} '''Odin Benedict''' (August 20, 1805—March 11, 1874) was an American medical doctor, banker, and politician from Chautauqua County, New York. He was supervisor of the Town of Ellery, New York and 10-time chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.<ref name="Centennial">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z5XJmFkTe3YC |title=The Centennial History of Chautauqua County: A Detailed and Entertaining Story of One Hundred Years of Development, Volume 1 |date=1904 |publisher=The Chautauqua History Company |access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref> He represented the county in the New York State Assembly for two terms, in 1840 and 1843.<ref name="Hazeltine">{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4U-AAAAYAAJ|title=The Early History of the Town of Ellicott, Chautauqua County, N.Y.|author1=Hazeltine, Gilbert Wilkinson |date=1887 |website= |publisher= |access-date=December 30, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and career=== Benedict was born on August 20, 1805, in Skaneateles, Onondaga County, New York, a son of Dr. Isaac Benedict. His father was a surgeon, and served during the War of 1812, and died in 1814. Benedict practice medine in Skaneateles and graduated from Fairfield Medical College. He was licensed by the Herkimer County Medical College in January 1826. In the same year, he moved to Ellery, New York <ref name="Edson">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchautau00edso/ |title=History of Chautauqua County, New York |last=Edson |first=Obed |editor-last=Merrill |editor-first=Georgia Drew |year=1894 |publisher=Press of White Brothers |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofchautau00edso/page/n205/ 205] |access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref> and was the town's first physician. He continued his practice until 1850. He married Sally Ann Copp and had a son, William, who served as town supervisor for nine years.<ref name="Hazeltine"/><ref name="Edson"/>

===Politics=== Benedict served as a supervisor of the Town of Ellery for 14 years, beginning in 1833.<ref name="Hazeltine"/><ref name="Edson"/> He was elected chairman of the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors in 1834, 1836, 1838.<ref name="Centennial"/> He also served as postmaster for Ellery for 20 years.<ref name="Edson"/>

In 1839, he was elected to the New York State Assembly representing Chautauqua County in the 63rd New York State Legislature in 1840 alongside George A. French and William Rice. After this term, he once again served as chairman of the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors from 1841 to 1842.<ref name="Centennial"/>

Benedict returned to the state legislature, and was elected again in 1842, serving in the 66th New York State Legislature in 1843 alongside Adolphus S. Morrison and Emory F. Warren.<ref name="Hazeltine"/> Benedict was once again elected as chairman of the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors from 1845 to 1847 and again in 1849.<ref name="Centennial"/>

===Later life=== In 1850, Benedict closed his medical practice in Ellery and moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. There he started a government stock bank. He returned to Chautauqua County in September 1851, and was in the banking business in Dunkirk. He resumed his medical practice until his death on March 11, 1874, in Dunkirk.<ref name="Hazeltine"/><ref name="Edson"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Find a Grave|10736987|Odin Benedict}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedict, Odin}} Category:1805 deaths Category:1874 deaths Category:Members of the New York State Assembly Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature Category:Bankers from New York (state) Category:19th-century American medical doctors Category:19th-century American politicians Category:People from Chautauqua County, New York Category:Medical doctors from New York (state)