Background
Champneys was born in 1800, the son of Doctor Benjamin Champneys, a surgeon who served in the Navy, and Sarah Potter.
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Benjamin Champneys
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Education
The family lived in Bridgeton, New Jersey, and Champneys attended Princeton College for two years, but withdrew upon the death of his father in 1814.
Career
He studied law in Trenton and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the bar in 1818. Champneys married Elizabeth Bachman in 1821. A daughter, Elizabeth, would marry a same-named great-grandson of William Augustus Atlee.
As a Democrat, he was twice elected to the state House in 1825 and 1828.
He served as Deputy Attorney General for Lancaster County, 1830-1833, and President Judge of the Second Judicial District from 1839-1842. He was appointed state Attorney General in 1846, serving until 1848.
With the onset of the Civil War, he switched parties. In 1863, he served again in the state House, then from 1864-1866 he served in the state Senate.
He died in 1871, and was buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery.
