Born in Ohio, Benjamin Franklin Simpson studied law and was admitted to the bat in 1857. That same year, Simpson emigrated to the Kansas Territory and settled in Paola. In 1858, Simpson was elected Miami County attorney. Simpson was a delegate to the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention and was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1860. Simpson was elected attorney general under the Wyandotte Constitution, When Kansas became a state, Simpson served as the new state’s first attorney general. Simpson resigned as attorney general to volunteer for service and was mustered in on October 6, 1863 as captain of Company C, 15th Kansas Cavalry. During the Battle of Westport, Simpson serving as the Acting Quartermaster for the Army of the Border. Simpson was promoted to major on June 7, 1865 and mustered out with the regiment on October 19, 1865. After the war, Simpson was elected to the State Senate. In 1870, Simpson was elected to the State House of Representatives and served as speaker for the 1871 session. In 1876 Simpson was reelected to the State Senate. Two years later, Simpson was appointed US Marshal for the district of Kansas and served until 1886. Simpson also served as a State Supreme Court commissioner from 1887–1893.
S. Lewis & Company, ed. “Hon. Benjamin F. Simpson.” In The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume, 89.
Kansas Adjutant General. Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Kansas, 1861-’65, 500, 505.
kansaspedia. “Benjamin Franklin Simpson,” January 2013. Link.