Richard Brodhead (January 5, 1811September 16, 1863) was an American lawyer and politician from

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

. He represented

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in both the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

(1843 to 1849) and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(1851 to 1857). He was the father of U.S. Representative Jefferson Davis Brodhead, who also represented Pennsylvania.

Biography

Richard Brodhead was born in Lehman Township, Pennsylvania, the son of Hannah (Drake) and Richard Brodhead, Sr. Brodhead moved to

in 1830. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced practice in Easton. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

from 1837 to 1839. He was appointed treasurer of

Northampton County, Pennsylvania Northampton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its county seat is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the c ...

in 1841. His wife was Mary Jane Davis Bradford, a niece of Jefferson Davis of Mississippi.

Political career

Brodhead was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Revolutionary Pensions during the Twenty-ninth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1848. Brodhead was elected as a Democrat to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. He served as chairman of the

United States Senate Committee on Claims The United States Senate Committee on Claims was among the first standing committees established in the Senate. It dealt generally with issues related to private bills and petitions. After reforms in the 1880s that created judicial and administra ...

during the Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses. and the

United States Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claims United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

during Thirty-second Congress. He died in Easton in 1863. He is interred in the Easton Cemetery.

Legacy

He was the most recent resident of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

area to serve as United States Senator from Pennsylvania until the election of

Pat Toomey Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator from Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. represen ...

in 2010.

References

''Commemorative Biographical Record of Northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe'' (Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1900), 80–1; ''Papers of Jefferson Davis'' 1:520-1; 1:279, n20.

External links

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodhead, Richard 1811 births 1863 deaths Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Politicians from Easton, Pennsylvania Democratic Party United States senators from Pennsylvania 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century United States senators