Allen Alexander BRADFORD, a Delegate from the Territory of Colorado; born in Friendship, Maine, July 23, 1815; moved to Missouri in 1841; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced; clerk of the circuit court of Atchison County, Mo., 1845-1851; moved to Iowa and was judge of the sixth judicial district 1852-1855; moved to the Territory of Nebraska; served as a member of the Territorial house of representatives in 1856, 1857, and 1858; moved to the Territory of Colorado in 1860; appointed judge of the supreme court of the Territory by President Lincoln on June 6, 1862; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); resumed the practice of law; elected to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1871); engaged in the practice of law in Pueblo, Colo., until his death there March 12, 1888; interment in the City Cemetery.
HON. ALLEN A. BRADFORD.
We have rarely ever noted the career of a man so peculiarly his own, not only in originality of mind and general characteristics, but in point of history and varied experience as Judge A. A. Bradford. Being originally from Maine, he has lived respectively in four other States—Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado—in each of which he has held office and been more or less connected with public affairs. He was born in Friendship, Me., July 23, 1815, at which place he was reared, and received an academical education. In 1841, he emigrated to Missouri, locating at Atchison County, where he afterward studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court at Atchison, in 1845, which position he held five years. He was married at St. Joseph, Mo., November 1, 1849, to Miss Emiline Cowles. In 1851, he removed to Iowa, and the following year was appointed Judge of the Sixth Judicial District of that State. In 1855, resigning his Judgeship, he removed to the Territory of Nebraska. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Nebraska in 1856-57-58. Leaving that Territory in 1860, he settled in Colorado, locating at Central City. He removed from Central to Pueblo, in 1862, at which place he has since made his home. He was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Colorado Territory in 1862, which office he filled with ability and with honor until his election to the Thirty-ninth Congress of the United States in 1864. He represented Colorado in Congress two terms, being elected the second time in 1868. In Congress he stood up well among his peers and feared not to assert the rights of his constituents. During his first term, and while at Washington, the assassination of President Lincoln occurring, he was placed upon the National Committee appointed to accompany the remains of Lincoln to Illinois. Upon returning from his last session in Congress, in 1871, Judge Bradford resumed his practice at Pueblo. Since then he has preferred the more private walks of life and has devoted his exclusive and untiring energies to the duties of his profession. He is the present County Attorney of the county of Pueblo. Many interesting incidents are related of Judge Bradford, especially `when referring to his pioneer life, but space will not here admit them. His remarkably retentive memory has secured for him an almost inexhaustible store of reminiscences, historical data and general information, so that his mind is a perfect encyclopedia—a reference book, so to speak—for all those who know him. Few men are better posted in the law than he, and his opinions upon legal questions are very highly regarded. Although the silver tints of life's winter are plainly visible about the Judge's head, yet he is active and vigorous and seems to have lost none of his native vivacity. Long may he yet live.
History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado
O L Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1881
Contributed by Karen Mitchell and Jean Griesan. Photo by Floyd Kelling.
Allen Bradford 1815 – 1888
Allen A. Bradford, native of Maine, was a seventh-generation descendant of Governor Bradford who came to the Colonies on the Mayflower. He held public office in Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska before moving to Colorado in 1860. He came to Pueblo in 1861. Bradford was appointed as judge on the Supreme Court of Colorado in 1863. He was elected delegate to the Congress in 1864 and 1868, resigning in 1871 because of ill health. A government land office was located in Pueblo in 1871 through his efforts. Later he was a Pueblo County attorney. His son, Thomas A. Bradford, was admitted to the bar in 1875, the first young man reared in Colorado to achieve this distinction. For a time father and son were in legal practice in the San Luis Valley and Pueblo.
to the Pueblo County Index Page.
Please e-mail comments and suggestions toKaren Mitchell.
