Augustus Bradford

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Augustus Bradford

Augustus Williamson Bradford (born January 9, 1806 in Bel Air , Harford County , Maryland , †  March 1, 1881 in Baltimore , Maryland) was an American politician and governor of the state of Maryland from 1862 to 1866 .

Early years

Bradford attended Bel Air Academy and then, until 1824, St. Marys College in Baltimore. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1826. He then began working in his new profession in Bel Air and Baltimore.

Political rise

A member of the Whig Party , Augustus Bradford was one of Henry Clay's electors in the 1844 presidential election . Between 1845 and 1851 he was employed by the Baltimore County District Court . At the beginning of 1861 he was a member of a conference in Washington that tried to prevent the outbreak of the Civil War without success at the last minute . After the Whig Party ended, Bradford joined the short-lived Union Party and later the Democratic Party . On November 6, 1861, he was elected the new governor of his state.

Governor of maryland

Augustus Bradford began his four-year term on January 8, 1862. At this time the Civil War was raging, which hit Maryland particularly hard as a border state between the north and the south. The state had decided to stay in the Union; nevertheless there were many supporters from the south. The governor, a supporter of the Union, passed a law making any support to the South a criminal offense. He also made troops available to the Union Army. Bradford also attended the Conference of Loyal Governors held in Pennsylvania in September 1862 .

Further life

After the end of his tenure on January 10, 1866 Bradford was administrator of the port of Baltimore ( Surveyor for the port of Baltimore ). He held this office between 1866 and 1869. In 1872 he was again an elector in the presidential elections. He would have voted for Horace Greeley , the Democrat-backed Liberal Democrat candidate ; however, this died before the Electoral College made his choice, so that the votes of Maryland went to the instead established Thomas A. Hendricks .

Then he withdrew from politics. Augustus Bradford died in 1881. He had twelve children with his wife, Elizabeth Kell.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

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