Restricted Judah P Benjamin, AWOL from U. S. Senate during 1860?

Robtweb1

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According to this article, Benjamin was missing from the senate for most of 1860 while the crises was coming to a head. How many more, north and south, were AWOL and what effect did this have on the Southern States leaving the union?


"Between June and December 1860, Benjamin was almost entirely absorbed in the case of United States v. Castillero, that was tried in San Francisco during the latter part of that period.[52] The case concerned a land grant by the former Mexican government of California. Castillero had leased part of his land to British mining companies, and when American authorities ruled the grant invalid, they hired Benjamin; he spent four months in San Francisco working on the case.[53][54] The trial began in October, and Benjamin gave an address lasting six days. The local correspondent for The New York Times wrote that Benjamin, "a distinguished stranger", drew the largest crowds to the courtroom and "the Senator is making this terribly tedious case interesting".[55] Benjamin sailed for New York once the case was submitted for decision in early November. The court's ruling, rendered in January 1861, was substantially for the company but, not satisfied, it appealed. It lost the case entirely to an adverse decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, three justices dissenting, the following year. Benjamin was by then a Confederate Cabinet officer, and could not argue the case. His co-counsel filed his brief with the court.[56]

By the time Benjamin returned to the East Coast, the Republican candidate, Lincoln, had been elected president, and there was talk, in Louisiana and elsewhere, of secession from the Union."
 
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