BENSON, JOSEPH BLACK (1854-1909)

BENSON, JOSEPH BLACK, doctor; mayor of Chatham, 1896-97; b. Chatham, 11 Jan 1854, s/o Stafford Benson and Sophia Elizabeth Samuel; brother of John Stafford Benson and Michael Samuel Benson; unmarried; d. Chatham, 7 Apr 1909.

Joseph B. Benson received his education at the County Grammar School under James Millar and W. Sterling Neales, and at the Collegiate School in Fredericton. He was trained in medicine at McGill University (MD CM 1875), where he was a leading student. After graduation he returned to Chatham to live in the family home and practice his profession. Between 1879 and 1884 he was in medical partnership with his brother Dr John S. Benson. He was appointed a coroner in 1886 and to membership on the Provincial Board of Health in 1898. He reported above-average annual earnings from his practice in 1901, but as noted elsewhere, he worked on a charitable basis at the Hotel Dieu Hospital.

Benson took a lively interest in the affairs of the town and of the Anglican church, of which he was a warden in 1907. He demonstrated the acceptability of his leadership in 1896 when he defeated Jabez B. Snowball, by a margin of two votes, to become Chatham's first mayor. In fact, in the words of the Chatham World, "he was immensely popular with all classes of people, professionally and personally." He was fifty-five years of age at the time of his death.