(Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Maryland, to the ...)
Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Maryland, to the General Assembly: January Session, 1864 Receipts for 1861, Receipts for 1862, Receipts for 1863, Disbursements for 1861, Disbursements for 1862, Disbursements for 1863, 953. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Augustus Bradford was born on January 9, 1806 at Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland, in the year 1806. He was the son of Samuel and Jane (Bond) Bradford.
He was of British descent, both his paternal and maternal ancestors having come to this country before the Revolution.
Bradford received his elementary education at Bel Air Academy under the Rev. Reuben H. Davis, who was a noted teacher in his day. In 1822, he entered St. Mary's College, Baltimore, from which institution he graduated at the head of his class in 1824, when in his eighteenth year. He returned to Bel Air to take up the study of law in the office of the then well-known lawyer, Otho Scott.
In 1827, Bradford was admitted to the bar and practiced law in his native town until 1831. In that year, he decided to make his home in Baltimore, feeling that in that city there would be a wider field for him in his profession than in the village of Bel Air. During the outbreak of the cholera epidemic in 1832, he returned to Bel Air, where he lived for the following six years.
In 1838, he again took up his residence in Baltimore to stay for the remainder of his life. He soon became a prominent member of the Whig party, and for a number of years devoted much of his time to its political organization. He was an ardent admirer and supporter of Henry Clay, and in 1844 was an elector on the Clay ticket. The defeat of Clay was such a bitter blow to him that for some years thereafter he would neither go upon the stump nor attend any political meetings.
In 1845, he was appointed by Governor Pratt clerk of the Baltimore county court and filled that office faithfully and efficiently until the close of the year 1851.
For the next ten years, he took very little part in public affairs. In 1861, the people of America were much concerned lest the differences between the North and the South should lead to civil war.
Peace conferences were held in various parts of the country and in the spring of 1861 Governor Hicks sent Bradford as a representative of Maryland to the conference held in Washington. He there made a strong speech in favor of the Union, and in the following summer, when the Union party was formed in Maryland, Bradford was named its candidate for governor.
General Benjamin C. Howard was nominated by the Democrats. On September 11 President Lincoln's secretary of war, Simon Cameron, wrote that "the passage of any act of secession by the legislature of Maryland must be prevented. " The members of the legislature not strongly in favor of the Republican administration were arrested, and Maryland consequently, so far at least as her government was concerned, was definitely on the side of the Union.
Bradford was elected by a majority of 31, 000, but it is beyond question that this great majority was due in part to intimidation and unlawful use of the soldiery. The federal administration and its Maryland representatives seemed to feel that they were justified in using rather questionable methods to prevent the people of Maryland from voting for anyone who was not a candidate on the Union ticket.
The military officers were given authority to suspend the habeas corpus and to arrest any suspicious persons and keep them confined until after the election. No one knowing Bradford's high sense of duty and honor could believe that he had any direct share in the way in which his gubernatorial campaign was managed, but it is to be regretted that that military interference with the voters against which he fought so courageously during his administration should have helped to carry him into office.
From the beginning of his administration, he endeavored unceasingly to have Maryland support the federal government, but at the same time, he opposed any unlawful use of the soldiery. When General Lee's army invaded Maryland in 1862, Bradford issued a proclamation calling upon the citizens to enroll themselves in military organizations, promising them they would not be required to join the federal army without their full consent. Organizations and volunteers immediately responded to the proclamation.
Again in 1863, upon the second invasion of the state, Bradford called for 10, 000 volunteers, and in June of that year, he decided to equip them and organize them into companies without waiting for the regimental organization. Many men too old to be drafted offered their services for home defense and were accepted by the governor.
On June 21, 1863, he issued his third appeal for volunteers, and this was answered by the formation of three other regiments. In November 1863, he came into serious conflict with the federal authorities. Major-General Schenck had issued an order for military officers to be present at the polls on the day of election to carry out certain restrictions upon the voters and to arrest any suspicious persons.
Bradford wrote to President Lincoln assuring him of the state's loyalty and begging him to prevent any such interference by the soldiery. The President's reply was not satisfactory, and in November 1863, Bradford issued a proclamation declaring that whatever power the state possessed was to be used to support the proper officials in the discharge of their duties.
Schenck immediately issued an order forbidding the newspapers to publish the proclamation, which did not appear in the Baltimore papers until the morning of the election, too late for circulation in the rural parts of the state. As a result, there was the same military interference at the polls as in 1861.
The question of emancipation of African-Americans was discussed at the legislative session of 1864, and Bradford called a state convention to meet in Annapolis that year with a view to abolishing slavery. At that convention was adopted the constitution which abolished slavery in Maryland and disfranchised all who fought for or aided the Confederacy.
In the summer of 1864, the Confederate forces invaded Maryland, camping near Reisterstown. A squad of them, detailed for the purpose, visited Bradford's residence, about four miles from Baltimore, and burned it to the ground, destroying his furniture, private papers, and entire library. The Governor was absent from home at the time, but the Confederates left a note telling him that the house had been burned in retaliation for the burning of the home of Governor Leitcher of Virginia by General Hunter. Under the constitution of 1864 Thomas Swann was elected governor of Maryland and on January 10, 1866, Bradford retired.
His speech at the induction of Governor Swann into office was exceptionally eloquent. In 1867, he was appointed by President Johnson surveyor of the port of Baltimore, and held that office until General Grant removed him in April 1869.
In 1874, without his knowledge or consent, he was nominated by Grant to the office of appraiser-general in the Baltimore custom house, but immediately declined the position on the ground that he was not fitted by training for an office which required an experienced and judicious merchant.
After his retirement as surveyor of the port of Baltimore he held no public office, but devoted the remainder of his life to his legal practise and his well-loved family. His last appearance in public life was as presidential elector on the Greeley ticket in 1872.
"After a life full of years and of honor" Bradford died at his home in Baltimore, in his seventy-sixth year.
Bradford served as the 32nd Governor of Maryland from 1862 to 1866, and was a leader of the state through the Civil War. Being a member of the Union Party and a staunch Unionist, he facilitated the raising of troops and public support for the Union Army, and saw his state invaded three times by Confederate forces during the course of the war. His other achievement spanned his political pursuing on the question of emancipation of African-Americans, which was discussed at the legislative session of 1864. In regards to this, Bradford called a state convention to meet in Annapolis that year with a view to abolishing slavery. At that convention was adopted the constitution which abolished slavery in Maryland and disfranchised all who fought for or aided the Confederacy.
(Excerpt from Message of the Governor of Maryland, to the ...)
(This reproduction was printed from a digital file created...)
(This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curat...)
Initially Bradford was a prominent member of the Whig party and a strong supporter of Henry Clay. For a number of years he devoted much of his time to its political organization. Later he switched to a Democratic party.
During this period of political inactivity he devoted himself to law, and acquired a good practise, although he never rose to any great distinction in his chosen profession.
In his views Bradford was opposed to slavery both on moral and economic grounds, but he also opposed federal interference with the slaves in Maryland and exerted his efforts to have the practice of carrying off the slaves at night discontinued.
Bradford also opposed the military occupation of his state, and often clashed with Union military leaders. In his inaugural address (January 1862) Bradford stood strongly in favor of the Union.
In 1835, Bradford was happily married to Elizabeth Kell, the youngest daughter of Judge Kell of Baltimore. There were twelve children by this union, seven of whom were living at the time of his death.
Their son, Edward Green Bradford II, also became both a Delaware State Representative and federal district court judge. His eldest son, a youth of twenty, had entered the Confederate army and been made an officer on the staff of a distinguished general.
1852–1925
1818 - 27 December 1894
1820–1848
February 1841 - 12 February 1905
3 February 1828 - 16 October 1871
1848–1928 federal district court judge
Died on 2 March 1921.
1866–1926
1863–1918
An American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware.
President
