Stephen Row Bradley | |
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| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| In office December 28, 1808 – January 8, 1809 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Smith |
| Succeeded by | John Milledge |
| In office December 14, 1802 – October 16, 1803 | |
| Preceded by | Abraham Baldwin |
| Succeeded by | John Brown |
| United States Senator fromVermont | |
| In office October 15, 1801 – March 3, 1813 | |
| Preceded by | Elijah Paine |
| Succeeded by | Dudley Chase |
| In office October 17, 1791 – March 3, 1795 | |
| Preceded by | (none) |
| Succeeded by | Elijah Paine |
| 9thSpeaker of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
| In office 1785–1786 | |
| Preceded by | Nathaniel Niles |
| Succeeded by | John Strong |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1754-02-20)February 20, 1754 |
| Died | December 9, 1830(1830-12-09) (aged 76) Walpole,New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westminster Cemetery Westminster, Vermont |
| Political party | Anti-Administration Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Merab Atwater Bradley Gratia Thankful Taylor Bradley Belinda Willard Bradley |
| Children | William Czar Bradley |
| Alma mater | Yale |
| Profession | Lawyer Judge Politician |
| Signature | .png) |
Stephen Row Bradley (February 20, 1754 – December 9, 1830) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He served as aUnited States Senator from the state ofVermont and as thePresident pro tempore of the United States Senate during the early 1800s.
Bradley was born on February 20, 1754, in the part ofWallingford, Connecticut that is nowCheshire.[1][2] He was the son of Moses and Mary (Row) Bradley.[3][4] He was the grandson of Stephen Bradley, a New Havensilversmith[1] who was one of six brothers who served inCromwell'sIronsides before emigrating to America.[4]
Bradley graduated fromYale College in 1775.[5]
After his graduation, Bradley was commissioned as captain in the Connecticut Militia and rose to the rank of major. He commanded the Cheshire Volunteers and in December 1776, he served asadjutant. He was promoted to vendue master (auctioneer of seized enemy andLoyalist property) andquartermaster, and then served asaide-de-camp toGeneral Wooster during the British attack onDanbury on April 27, 1777 when Wooster was fatally wounded.[5] Bradley resigned his commission after the battle.
He received a Master of Arts degree from Yale in 1778.[6] In 1779, he moved toWestminster, Vermont and studied law, directed byTapping Reeve, founder of theLitchfield Law School.[7] Bradley was admitted to the bar in 1779 and began the practice of law in Westminster, becoming an important citizen of the town.[8][9] In October 1779, the Legislature selected him as one of five agents to the U.S. Congress from Vermont; in early 1780, he wrote a tract entitledVermont's Appeal to a Candid and Impartial World, which defendedVermont's right to independence against competing claims by New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.[1][4]
In June 1780, Bradley was appointedstate's attorney forCumberland County, Vermont.[1][4] He held the positions of register of probate and town clerk, and in 1783 he served as county judge.[10] He also served for seven years in theVermont House of Representatives in the 1780s. He wasspeaker of the Vermont House of Representatives during 1785.[4]
Bradley continued to be given additional responsibility in the militia. Appointed afirst lieutenant in August 1780, he was promoted tocolonel as commander of the 1st Regiment in October. He was later promoted tobrigadier general as commander of the 8th Brigade, and served until 1791.[11]
He served as judge of theVermont Superior Court during the 1780s, and of theVermont Supreme Court in 1788. Bradley was instrumental in settling Vermont's boundary disputes withNew Hampshire.[12] Vermont became part of theUnited States on March 4, 1791. Bradley andMoses Robinson were elected by the state legislature to be the first to fill Vermont's two senate seats.[13] In 1791, he entered theUnited States Senate and supported the anti-administration faction. Defeated for reelection in 1794, he returned to Westminster and was active in law and local politics, serving on the town council.
Bradley tried to return to the U.S. Senate in 1800 and lost to incumbentElijah Paine.[14] However, when Paine resigned after being appointed as a judge the following year, Bradley ran for the open seat and won againstWilliam Chamberlain.[15] He served asPresident pro tempore of the Senate from the end of 1801 to near the end of 1802. After he was reelected in 1807, he served as the presiding officer again for a couple of weeks in the 1808-1809 period.[16]
Bradley is credited with writing theTwelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was passed by Congress in 1803 and ratified in 1804.[4][17] Although a Democratic-Republican, he wasopposed to the War of 1812.[1]
After retiring from the Senate in 1813, he retired from politics and returned to Westminster. He lived there for five years, and in 1818 he moved toWalpole, New Hampshire where he lived for the rest of his life.[13]His Walpole house is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[18]
Bradley died in Walpole, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, on December 9, 1830 (aged 76 years, 292 days).[19] His body was returned to Westminster, Vermont and he isinterred at the Westminster Cemetery.[20]
Known as an intelligent and eccentric man, Bradley was a good lawyer and orator. Appointed a fellow byMiddlebury College on September 1, 1800, he held the position for the rest of his life.[21][22] Middlebury andDartmouth colleges awarded him thehonorary degree ofLL.D.[7]
Bradley married Merab Atwater on May 16, 1780. After her death, he married Gratia Thankful Taylor on April 12, 1789. He married a third time, on September 18, 1803, to Belinda Willard.[3] He had five children, and over a dozen grandchildren. His three daughters married prominent men, one of whom wasSamuel Tudor. His sonWilliam Czar Bradley, also a politician, served several terms in Congress.[23]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives 1785–1786 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by None | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Vermont 1791–1795 Served alongside:Moses Robinson | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 3) from Vermont 1801–1813 Served alongside:Nathaniel Chipman,Israel Smith,Jonathan Robinson | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate December 14, 1802 – October 16, 1803 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate December 28, 1808 – January 8, 1809 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
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| International | |
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