Benjamin F. Whidden (1813-1896) was an attorney, judge, teacher, and diplomat from New Hampshire who served as the first United States Minister Resident to Haiti, serving from July 12, 1862 to February 23, 1865. Whidden was a born in Greenland, New Hampshire, to Mary Nye (Goss) Whidden and Samuel Whidden, and grew up in Lancaster, New Hampshire. He worked on a farm when young to help pay to attend Kimball Union Academy. He then graduated from Dartmouth College in 1840.