Benjamin Franklin Washington (1820-1872)

Benjamin Franklin Washington (April 7, 1820 – January 22, 1872) was a relative of George Washington. He was involved in a duel with C. A. Washburn over articles printed in the San Francisco Herald.

Personal life
Washington was born on April 7, 1820 at "Cedar Lawn" plantation near Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) and was the fifth child and third son of John Thornton Augustine Washington with his first wife Elizabeth Conrad Bedinger. Washington's great-grandfather, Samuel Washington, was a younger brother of George Washington.

Washington married Georgianna Hite Ransom on October 22, 1845 in Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia). He studied law but went west to California in the 1849 Gold Rush as the president of the Charlestown Company.

He was coeditor of the Sacramento Democratic State Journal, along with Vincent Geiger.

On October 7, 1863, the Democratic Press was established in San Francisco, and by June 12, 1865, it became the Evening Examiner, with William S. Moss as publisher and B. F. Washington as editor. For several years William S. Moss, Phil Roach and George Pen Johnston were its owners. Until it was bought by Senator Hearst in the 1880s, the paper had been a "highly chaste and non-sensation journal". After Senator Hearst's death the paper went to his son, William R. Hearst.

B.F. Washington died January 22, 1872 in San Francisco, California.

The duel
Washington, who at the time worked for the Times and Transcript, took offense at articles written in the San Francisco Herald. As a result, he challenged C. A. Washburn, then the editor of the San Francisco Herald, to a duel. Though Washington aimed to kill, his second shot went through the rim of Washburn's hat, and his third bullet struck Washburn in the shoulder. The duel then ended.