Bedford Brown (June 6, 1795 – December 6, 1870) was a Democratic

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from the State of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

between 1829 and 1840.

Biography

Bedford Brown was born on June 6, 1795 in what now is Locust Hill Township,

Caswell County, North Carolina Caswell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state. At the 2020 census, the population was 22,736. Its county seat is Yanceyville. Partially bordering the state of Virginia, ...

. His parents were Jethro Brown and Lucy Williamson Brown. After attending the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

for one year, Brown was elected to the

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

. On July 13, 1816, Brown married Mary Lumpkin Glenn. The couple had seven children. In 1828, upon the death of Bartlett Yancey, Jr., Brown was chosen in a special election to replace Yancey in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

. Like Bartlett Yancey, Jr., before him, Brown was elected Speaker of the North Carolina Senate. In 1829, he was elected as a Jacksonian (the party that would become the Democratic Party) to succeed

John Branch John Branch Jr. (November 4, 1782January 4, 1863) was an American politician who served as U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, the 19th Governor of the state of North Carolina, and was the sixth and last territorial governor of Florida. Bio ...

as a United States Senator from North Carolina. In the Senate, he chaired several committees, including the Agriculture Committee. Brown resigned his seat in 1840 due to a dispute with the state legislature. He was elected to the state Senate again in 1842, before spending some years out of the state. Leading up to the Civil War, Brown, a state senator again from 1858 to 1860, counseled in favor of North Carolina's remaining in the Union. However, after President Lincoln requested troops from North Carolina to serve in the Union Army, Brown, along with most of his colleagues, supported secession. In 1868 Brown, still a Democrat, was again elected to the North Carolina Senate. However, the Reconstruction Republicans controlled the North Carolina Legislature and refused to seat Brown. He was replaced by Republican John W. Stephens. Brown was buried on the grounds at Rose Hill, just outside

Yanceyville, North Carolina Yanceyville is a town in and the county seat of Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state, the town had a population of 1,937 at the 2020 census. The settlement was founded in 1792 and was ...

. Rose Hill was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973.

Footnotes

External links

Bedford Brown profile
- Caswell County Historical Association. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Bedford 1795 births 1870 deaths People from Caswell County, North Carolina American people of Scotch-Irish descent Jacksonian United States senators from North Carolina Democratic Party United States senators from North Carolina North Carolina Jacksonians Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators People of North Carolina in the American Civil War

Biography

Footnotes

Further reading

External links