Alexander Warfield Bradford

Background

Alexander Warfield Bradford was was born on February 23, 1815, in Albany, New York. He was the son of Rev. John M. and Mary (Lush) Bradford.

Education

Bradford's primary education was received at the Albany Academy, whence he proceeded to Union College, Schenectady, where he graduated in 1832. On leaving Union, he went to New York City, took up the study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 1837.

Career

Bradford's progress in his profession was slow and he devoted a portion of his time to literary pursuits. In 1841, he published his American Antiquities and Researches into the Origin and History of the Red Race, a work which attracted much notice, as a pioneer venture in the ethnological field of the American Indian.

In 1843, he became corporation counsel to the City of New York, and in 1848, was elected surrogate for the city and county of New York, a position to which he was twice re-elected. As a surrogate, he was a conspicuous success.

During his tenure of office, he "contributed to build up almost a complete system of jurisprudence in the Surrogate Court, " his thorough acquaintance with the law of wills and intestate property and the inter-relation of civil and canon law, giving his decisions a weight which extended beyond the confines of his own jurisdiction.

He retired from the bench in 1858, being the same year elected a member of the state assembly, in which he served for one term. On his resumption of private practice, he quickly acquired a lucrative legal connection, particularly in his special department of civil or ecclesiastical law.

He was a member of the commission appointed in 1857 by the New York State legislature to reduce the law of the state to a systematic code. In 1865, they reported a civil code, "the first real code in good and correct sense of the term prepared in this country". It failed, however, of adoption.

His health gradually broke under the pressure of continuous application to professional duties, and he died in New York City November 5, 1867. He combined a singularly equable temperament with an unobtrusiveness which made him friends among all classes. His learning and general scholarship were universally recognized, and in his special sphere of law, he had no peer in this country.

He occasionally contributed to historical and other periodicals. For some years he was associated with Dr. Anthon in editing The Protestant Churchman. The Catalogue of the Private Library of the Late A. W. Bradford, Esq. (1868), prepared for the sale which took place after his death, discloses 920 items, covering a wide range of subjects, including a copy of John Eliot's Indian Bible, the first book printed in America.

Achievements

• Alexander Bradford was one of the innovative jurists who contributed to build up almost a complete system of jurisprudence in the Surrogate Court. He also prepared Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Surrogate's Court of the County of New York, covering the cases between 1849 and 1857. These reports received great recignition and were considered as valuable resource to the profession.

Works

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  • Draft of That Portion of the Civil Code of the State of New York, Which Relates to the Estates of Deceased Persons, Submitted to the Judges and Others ... Prior to Re-Examination by the Commissioners

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • An Address to the Graduates of the Law School of Columbia College

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

  • The Bank of the Commonwealth: The American Exchange Bank and Others

    (The Bank of the Commonwealth - The American Exchange Bank...)

  • American Antiquities and Researches Into the Origin and History of the Red Race

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • An Oration Delivered at Portchester, in the Town of Rye, County of Westchester, on the Fourth Day of July 1865

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Surrogate's Court of the County of New-York Volume 4

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

  • The Penal Code of the State of New York

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Politics

Commencing practice, Bradford also became active in political circles, being a staunch adherent of the old Whig party of that day.

Connections

Father:

John M. Bradford

Mother:

Mary (Lush) Bradford

associate:

Dr. Anthon

References

• Testimonial of Respect of the Bar of New-York, to the Memory of Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson: Biography, Proceedings in the Courts, Meetings of the Bar, ... and Funeral Ceremonies (Classic Reprint)