Benjamin Brown French (1800–1870) was a politician, telegraph business leader, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Public Commissioner of Buildings in Washington, D.C.[1] He was a member of the New Hampshire legislature from 1831 until 1833.

He moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as Clerk of the United States House of Representatives from 1845 until 1847 and was appointed Commissioner of Public Buildings.

[3] The August 30, 1845, issue of the Baltimore Sun led to the composition of a ballad by French about Luther Fuller who died aboard the steamboat Erie.

He gave the main speech April 14, 1868, at the dedication of the Abraham Lincoln statue at Washington's City Hall.

[8] Historian Joanne B. Freeman drew extensively upon these journals as a resource when writing her 2018 book, The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War.