William Czar Bradley (March 23, 1782March 3, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician. He served three terms as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

from 1813 to 1815, then again from 1823 to 1827.

Biography

Born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in the

Vermont Republic The Vermont Republic ( French: ''République du Vermont''), officially known at the time as the State of Vermont ( French: ''État du Vermont''), was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The ...

, Bradley was the son of United States Senator Stephen Row Bradley. Bradley received his early education in the schools of

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), formerly known as New Cheshire Parish, is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The center of population of Connecti ...

, and

Charlestown, New Hampshire Charlestown is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,806 at the 2020 census, down from 5,114 at the 2010 census. The town is home to Hubbard State Forest and the headquarters of the Student Conservation As ...

. As a child prodigy, he entered

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

for a short time at the age of thirteen, but was expelled for pranks.

Family

Also in 1802 Bradley married Sarah Richards, the daughter of Mark Richards, who served in Congress and as

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Legal career

He studied law, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

and commenced practice in Westminster in 1802. He served as prosecuting attorney for Windham County, as a member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

Political career

He was member of the Governor's council. Bradley was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

Thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

Congress, serving from March 4, 1813 to March 3, 1815. Bradley was an agent of the United States under the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

to fix the boundary line between

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 1815 to 1820. He served again in the United States Congress when was elected as an Adams-Clay Democratic-Republican to the Eighteenth Congress and as an Adams to the Nineteenth Congress, serving from March 4, 1823 to March 3, 1827.

Later career

After leaving Congress, Bradley resumed the practice of law. He was an unsuccessful candidate for

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

several times, running as a Democratic candidate in 1830, 1834 and 1838. ( Daniel Kellogg, the husband of Bradley's daughter Merab, was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1843, 1844 and 1845.) Bradley then ran as an unsuccessful

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery into ...

candidate in 1848, and an unsuccessful candidate on the Fremont ticket in 1856. He served as

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

ticket in 1856, and cast his vote for John C. Fremont, the first presidential candidate of the Republican Party. Bradley served as member of the State constitutional convention in 1857. He retired from the practice of law in 1858.

Death and legacy

Bradley died in Westminster on March 3, 1867, and is interred in the Old Westminster Cemetery in Westminster. A bust of Bradley was sculpted around 1860 by sculptor

Larkin Goldsmith Mead Larkin Goldsmith Mead, Jr. (January 3, 1835 – October 15, 1910) was an American sculpture, sculptor who worked in a Neoclassicism, neoclassical style. Career He was born at Chesterfield, New Hampshire, the son of a prominent lawyer. A coloss ...

, and is on display in the

Vermont Historical Society The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) was founded in 1838 to preserve and record the cultural history of the US state of Vermont. Headquartered in the old Spaulding School Building in Barre, the Vermont History Center is home to the Vermont His ...

museum. Bradley's law office in Westminster was deeded to the State of Vermont in 1998. Bradley used the law office from 1810 until his retirement in 1858; the law office had been undisturbed until it was deeded to the state. In July 2001 ''The William Czar Bradley Law Office'' was opened to the public.

Published works

Bradley began writing poetry at an early age, and published his first book, "The Rights of Youth," at the age of twelve. * "Verses in a Watch," in John Walter Coates & Frederick Tucker (eds.), Vermont Verse: An Anthology 32 (Brattleboro, Vermont: Stephen Daye Press, 1932) * "A Ballad of Judgment and Mercy," in A.J. Sanborn (ed.), Green Mountain Poets 158-160 (Claremont, New Hampshire: Claremont Manufacturing Co., 1872)

References

External links

*
govtrack.us

Schlesinger Library, Harvard University: Bradley family. Papers, 1813-1957: A Finding Aid

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, William Czar 1782 births 1867 deaths People from Westminster (town), Vermont American people of English descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Vermont Democrats Vermont Free Soilers Vermont National Republicans Vermont Republicans State's attorneys in Vermont Vermont lawyers Yale College alumni Burials in Vermont 19th-century American lawyers