Henry Marie Brackenridge (May 11, 1786 – January 18, 1871) was an American writer, lawyer, judge, superintendent, and U.S. Congressman from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in 1786, he was educated by his father, the writer and judge Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and private tutors before attending a French academy at Ste. Genevieve in what is now Missouri. He studied law and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1806, then practiced in

Somerset, Pennsylvania Somerset is a borough in and the county seat of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,046 at the 2020 census. The borough is surrounded by Somerset Township. Somerset is just off Exit 110 of the Pennsylvania Turnpi ...

. Brackenridge subsequently moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was a lawyer and journalist. In 1811, he became the first recorded tourist to present-day

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

, hosted by fur trader Manuel Lisa. Henry was appointed deputy attorney general of the

Territory of Orleans The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Louisiana. History In 180 ...

(Louisiana), and district judge of Louisiana in 1812. He played an intelligence role during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

, and in 1814 published a history of the war. In 1817 he was appointed secretary of a mission to South America. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1818. In 1821, Brackenridge entered the diplomatic service of General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, who was the new commissioner of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. Through Jackson's influence, he served as U.S. judge for the western district of Florida from 1821 to 1832. When President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States ...

established the Naval Live Oak Area on January 18, 1829, Superintendent Brackenridge lived on the property and experimented with cultivating the live oak tree for shipbuilding. He is therefore considered the country's first federal forester. Brackenridge returned to Pennsylvania in 1832 and became owner of a large tract of land upon which he founded the town of

Tarentum Tarentum may refer to: * Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras) **See also History of Taranto * Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...

, 22 miles northeast of Pittsburgh on the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into New York then i ...

. The adjacent

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia C ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Brackenridge is named for him. He was elected as a Whig to the

26th United States Congress The 26th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 18 ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Richard Biddle, and served from October 13, 1840, to March 3, 1841. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1840. After politics, Brackenridge pursued literature until his death in Pittsburgh on January 18, 1871. He is buried in Prospect Cemetery in Brackenridge, Pennsylvania. Brackenridge's published works include ''Views of Louisiana'' (1814). Sent to South America to study political conditions, he recounted his experiences in ''Voyage to South America'' (1819). His ''Recollections of Persons and Places in the West'' (1834) is considered a valuable historical source.

References

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The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brackenridge, Henry Marie 1786 births 1871 deaths Politicians from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania state court judges Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania People from Pennsylvania in the War of 1812 Members of the American Antiquarian Society 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers