1967 â '' Craig Claiborne writes in The New York Times Magazine that Edward P. Montgomery wrote him a letter to say that eggs Benedict originated with Commodore E.C. Benedict . Craig Claiborne , in September 1967 , wrote a column in The New York Times Magazine about a letter he had received from Edward P. Montgomery , an American then residing in France . In it , Montgomery related that the dish was created by Commodore E.C. Benedict , a banker and yachtsman , who died in 1920 at the age of 86 .