Benjamin W. Lacy

Benjamin Watkins Lacy (January 27, 1839 – May 15, 1895) was an American politician and Virginia lawyer, Confederate officer and jurist.

Early and family life

Lacy was born on the family plantation, Ellsworth, in New Kent County, Virginia, the son of lawyer Richmond Terrell Lacy and his wife the former Ellen Green Lane. His father first won election to the Virginia House of Delegates (a part-time position) in 1842 and won re-election until 1850, then served many years as the Commonwealth Attorney (prosecutor). Through his paternal grandmother, he could trace his descent to Col. Thomas West, who served seven years on the Continental Line during the American Revolutionary War.

Virginia not having public education at the time, the firstborn son received his early education from his mother, then traveled westward to attend boarding schools, including Pike Powers Academy in Staunton and Brown and Tebbs Academy in Albemarle County. He had elder and younger sisters (Sally E. Lacy and Ellen G. Lacy, respectively, neither of whom married) as well as two younger brothers Richmond Terrell Lacy (who also joined the 3rd Virginia cavalry and later followed the family tradition as Commonwealth Attorney for New Kent County) and Thomas Hugo Lacy (who became an Episcopal priest in West Virginia and later Buckingham County, Virginia in Southside Virginia). Completing his formal education at the University of Virginia, Lacy then read law under his father's guidance.
On November 14, 1878, he married Sarah Rebecca Osborne, daughter of a Presbyterian minister. They had four children who survived their father.

Confederate military service

Lacy enlisted in the Confederate States Army on April 19, 1861, a week after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Initially a private, he rose to captain his company in the 3rd Virginia Cavalry. He was wounded three times, severely in the skirmishes at Kelly's Ford in 1863 and Nance's Shop in his home county in 1864. Lacy remained in the Army of Northern Virginia until it surrendered at Appomattox Court House.

Career

After the war, Lacy refreshed his studies, was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1866 and practiced law together with his father. In 1870, he was appointed to the county court of Charles City and New Kent Counties and remained there for three years until the General Assembly reorganized the judiciary.

Voters then elected Lacy to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent the combined district comprising Charles and New Kent counties. Although the area had been Republican and elected African Americans William H. Brisby and Robert G.W. Jones in the first postwar election (when each county had a delegate), then William H. Patterson in 1871 when the two counties were combined into one district, Lacy ran and repeatedly won as a Democrat with Readjuster sympathies. He served from 1874 to 1880, although in 1877 he was seated only following a successful challenge to the apparent election of John M. Gregory. During his last term, fellow delegates elected Lacy their 33rd Speaker (1879–1881).Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond, Virginia State Library 1978) pp. xv, 517, 521, 525, 529, 530

During that term, in 1880, fellow legislators elected Lacy a judge of the Eighth Circuit Court, to fill the seat vacated by Robert L. Montague, who had died in office. Lacy resigned his part time legislative position upon taking the trial court bench. J. Marshall Hanger, although of the opposing party, offered a resolution praising Lacy's faithfulness and integrity as Speaker.

In 1882, the Virginia General Assembly elected four members to the Supreme Court of Appeals for twelve year terms effective January 1, 1883. Lacy, Thomas T. Fauntleroy, Drury A. Hinton and Robert A. Richardson remained on the appellate bench together until five successors took office in January 1895.(thus the succession box above is arbitrary)

Death

During the final months of his term, Lacy suffered a lingering illness, and died at the age of 56 his New Kent County home, Marl Springs, on May 15, 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, Benjamin Watkins
1839 births
1895 deaths
Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia
Virginia lawyers
Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
University of Virginia alumni
People from New Kent County, Virginia
People of Virginia in the American Civil War
19th-century American legislators
19th-century American judges
19th-century American lawyers
Virginia circuit court judges
19th-century Virginia politicians