Ben Carter (c. 1895 – April 11, 1943)"Heart Attack Fatal to Arkansas Supreme Court Jurist Carter", ''Northwest Arkansas Times'' (April 12, 1943), p. 1. was a justice of the

Arkansas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction ...

for four months, taking office January 1, 1943, and serving until his death less than four months later, in 1943.''Arkansas Law Review and Bar Association Journal'' (1962), p. 264.

Biography

Born in

Texarkana, Arkansas Texarkana is a city in the U.S. state of Arkansas and the county seat of Miller County, on the southwest border of the state. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 29,387. It is the twin city of Texarkana, Texas, located just acros ...

, Carter attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

, and received degrees from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, including 18 months of service in France, where he was a field artillery captain. He then served as a city attorney for two terms, during which time he argued a utilities case before the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, and then served two terms as a member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House has 100 members elected from an equal number of constituencies across the state. Each distr ...

, for

Miller County, Arkansas Miller County is a County (United States), county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 42,600. The county seat is Texarkana, Arkansas, Texarkana. ...

. In 1941, Governor Homer Martin Adkins appointed Carter to chair the state utilities commission, and he was described as "the protege of the Adkins administration".Harry Lee Williams, ''Forty Years Behind the Scenes in Arkansas Politics'' (1949), 80. As a candidate for a seat on the state supreme court, he ran against Eastern Arkansas lawyer Arthur Adams, eking out a narrow victory despite Adams' strong support in the east.

Death

Carter died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at the age of 48.

References

1943 deaths 1890s births People from Texarkana, Arkansas Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Harvard College alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Army personnel of World War I Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court 20th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly {{Arkansas-state-judge-stub