Benjamin T. Estes was born around 1832 in Brownsville, Tennessee, to William Estes. His father was a veteran of the War of 1812. The family moved to Rankin County, Mississippi, sometime before 1850, and Estes attended school there. He earned admission to the Mississippi bar around 1853 and began working as a lawyer. He married Jesse Hicks on July 20, 1858, and they had at least four children: Jesse, born around 1865; Sue, born around 1867; William, born around 1870; and Nellie, born around 1872. They moved to Boston, Texas, in the 1850s, and by 1860, he owned $3,750 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on February 19, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in a Texas cavalry battalion. In May 1862, he was promoted to captain in the 32^nd Texas Cavalry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Stones River, the Battle of Chickamauga, and the Atlanta campaign. Union forces captured him on April 8, 1865, in the Battle of Spanish Fort.

 

Estes returned to Boston after the war and resumed his work as a lawyer. By 1870, he owned $10,000 of real estate and $5,000 of personal property. He moved to Texarkana, Texas, around 1874. He supported the Democratic Party, and local voters elected him to the district court in the late 1870s. His decisions were reportedly “marked by broad and exact knowledge of law and precedent.” He resigned in 1885 and returned to private practice. He helped organize the Texarkana National Bank, and he served as the institution’s first president. He died in Texarkana in 1902.

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