Benjamin H. Steele

Benjamin H. Steele (February 8, 1837 - July 13, 1873) was a Vermont attorney and judge. He served as an Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1865 to 1870.

Benjamin Hinman Steele was born in Stanstead, Quebec on February 8, 1837, the son of Sanford and Mary (Hinman) Steele. Steele was educated at academies in Stanstead and Derby, Vermont, and was a superior student; at age 14 he began teaching, and worked at schools in Troy, Vermont, and Concord, Massachusetts. Steele attended the College of Saint-Pierre-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud to learn French, and then attended Norwich University.

He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1857; in addition to being the class valedictorian, Steele was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. While at Dartmouth, Steele developed an interest in the military, and organized an informal militia company, the "Dartmouth Grays", which consisted of members of the class of 1859, including Wheelock G. Veazey and Edward Cowles. At the start of the American Civil War, several former members of the Dartmouth Grays were able to receive commissions in the Union Army as a result of their militia experience.

After graduating from Dartmouth, Steele became the principal of an academy in Barton, Vermont, where he also began to study law with attorney John P. Sartle. Steele interrupted his legal studies when he became ill; after recovery, he traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts intending to enroll at Harvard Law School. Instead, while visiting the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in 1858, Steele's friends suggested that he apply to be admitted to the bar. He was interviewed by a committee which included Benjamin Butler; Rufus Choate, who had overheard a portion of Steele's interview, commended him on his performance. Steele easily passed the examination, and was qualified as an attorney.

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