Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.
United States federal judge (1881-1966)
Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Sr. (July 19, 1881 – August 22, 1966) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Education and career
Born in Ouachita City, an unincorporated community in Union Parish, Louisiana, Dawkins received a Bachelor of Laws from Tulane University Law School in 1906 and entered private practice in Monroe, Louisiana until 1912. From 1912 to 1918, he was a Judge of the Louisiana District Court. In 1918, he became an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, a position that he held until 1924.
Federal judicial service
Dawkins was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge on April 25, 1924, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana vacated by Judge George W. Jack. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 5, 1924, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1953. He assumed senior status on May 17, 1953, and was succeeded by his son, Judge Benjamin C. Dawkins Jr. His service terminated on August 22, 1966, due to his death.
“Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.” enters the record as united States federal judge (1881-1966). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Benjamin, Dawkins and United can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Benjamin, Dawkins and United provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4888362. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1881, 1966, 1906 and 1912.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr. primary sources, Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr. archive and Benjamin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Benjamin C. Dawkins Sr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.