Gunning Bedford Jr. (1747 – March 30, 1812) was an American

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, delegate to the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

(

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), Attorney General of Delaware, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which drafted the

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, a signer of the United States Constitution, and a

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of the

United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the United States district court, Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington, Delaware, ...

Education and career

Bedford was born in 1747, in

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, the fifth of eleven children to a wealthy family. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now

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) on September 25, 1771, with honors, as a classmate of

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. He was admitted to the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

bar and entered private practice in

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from 1779 to 1783. On July 17, 1775, the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

resolved to elect Bedford to deputy-muster-general for New York in the

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, during the

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. On February 28, 1776, he was assigned to the northern army in

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to muster troops there monthly. On June 18, 1776, he was promoted to muster-master-general and assigned to New York. He served briefly as an aide to General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. He was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation from 1783 to 1785. He was Attorney General of Delaware from April 26, 1784, to September 26, 1789. He was appointed a commissioner to the Annapolis Convention in September 1786 but did not attend. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted the United States Constitution and was a signer of the Constitution. During the convention, Bedford's threat, "the small ones would find some foreign ally of more honor and good faith, who will take them by the hand and do them justice" was shouted down as treasonous by the other delegates. He was a member of the Delaware convention which ratified the Constitution in 1787. He was a member of the Delaware Legislative Council (now the

Delaware Senate The Delaware State Senate is the upper house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 21 Senators, each of whom is elected to a four-year term, except when reapportionment occur ...

) in 1788, and was a candidate in the 1789 United States House of Representatives election for Delaware's at-large seat. Bedford was nominated by President

on September 24, 1789, to the

, to a new seat authorized by . He was confirmed by the

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on September 26, 1789, and received his commission the same day. Bedford was a leading advocate for the abolition of slavery.

Family

Bedford was a cousin of Gunning Bedford Sr., a Governor of Delaware. In late 1772 or early 1773, Bedford married Jane Ballareau Parker, the daughter of James Parker, a printer who had learned his trade from

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

. He had 5 children, none of whom married. In 1793, he purchased Lombardy Hall on 250 acres in Brandywine Hundred.

Death and legacy

He died in office as a federal judge on March 30, 1812. He was interred first in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Wilmington. His remains were moved to the Masonic Home Cemetery at Christiana, Delaware. The cemetery is now the location of the Wilmington Institute Library.

Notes

References

*
Delaware Members of Congress

Judges of the United States Courts

Lombardy Hall

External links

* Delaware Historical Society
website
*

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

Library website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Gunning Jr. 1747 births 1812 deaths Founding Fathers of the United States Burials at Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery People from Wilmington, Delaware Princeton University alumni Delaware lawyers Delaware attorneys general Continental Congressmen from Delaware Delaware state senators Members of the Delaware House of Representatives United States federal judges appointed by George Washington Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware Signers of the United States Constitution People from colonial Delaware Politicians from Philadelphia Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections