Gunning Bedford Jr. (1747 – March 30, 1812) was an American Founding Father, delegate to the Congress of the Confederation ( Continental Congress), Attorney General of Delaware, a delegate to the

Constitutional Convention Constitutional convention may refer to: * Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement *Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...

in 1787 which drafted the United States Constitution, a signer of the United States Constitution, and a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Delaware The United States District Court for the District of Delaware (in case citations, D. Del.) is the Federal district court having jurisdiction over the entire state of Delaware. The Court sits in Wilmington. Currently, four district judges and ...

Education and career

Bedford was born in 1747, in

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, Province of Pennsylvania,

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, the fifth of eleven children to a wealthy family. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

) on September 25, 1771, with honors, as a classmate of James Madison. He was admitted to the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

bar and entered private practice in

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from 1779 to 1783. On July 17, 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to elect Bedford to deputy-muster-general for New York in the Continental Army, during the

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. On February 28, 1776, he was assigned to the northern army in

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to muster troops there monthly. On June 18, 1776, he was promoted to muster-master-general and assigned to New York. He served briefly as an aide to General George Washington. He was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation from 1783 to 1785. He was Attorney General of Delaware from April 26, 1784, to September 26, 1789. He was appointed a commissioner to the Annapolis Convention in September 1786 but did not attend. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted the United States Constitution and was a signer of the Constitution. During the convention, Bedford's threat, "the small ones would find some foreign ally of more honor and good faith, who will take them by the hand and do them justice" was shouted down as treasonous by the other delegates. He was a member of the Delaware convention which ratified the Constitution in 1787. He was a member of the Delaware Legislative Council (now the Delaware Senate) in 1788. Bedford was nominated by President George Washington on September 24, 1789, to the

, to a new seat authorized by . He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and ...

on September 26, 1789, and received his commission the same day. Bedford was a leading advocate for the abolition of slavery.

Family

Bedford was a cousin of Gunning Bedford Sr., a Governor of Delaware. In late 1772 or early 1773, Bedford married Jane Ballareau Parker, the daughter of

James Parker James, Jim, and Jimmy Parker may refer to: Arts and entertainment *James Cutler Dunn Parker (1828–1916), American musician * James Ervan Parker (born 1942), American singer-songwriter *James Stewart Parker (1941–1988), English playwright an ...

, a printer who had learned his trade from

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...

. He had 5 children, none of whom married. In 1793, he purchased

Lombardy Hall Lombardy Hall is a historic house at 1611 Concord Pike in Fairfax, Delaware. Probably built about 1750, this stone house is notable as the home of U.S. Founding Father Gunning Bedford Jr. (1747-1812), a delegate to the Constitutional Conventio ...

on 250 acres in Brandywine Hundred.

Death and legacy

He died in office as a federal judge on March 30, 1812. He was interred first in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Wilmington. His remains were moved to the Masonic Home Cemetery at Christiana, Delaware. The cemetery is now the location of the Wilmington Institute Library.

Notes

References

*
Delaware Members of Congress
*

Judges of the United States Courts

Lombardy Hall

External links

* Delaware Historical Society
website
* University of Delaware
Library website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford, Gunning Jr. 1747 births 1812 deaths Burials at Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery People from Wilmington, Delaware Princeton University alumni Delaware lawyers Delaware Attorneys General Continental Congressmen from Delaware 18th-century American politicians Delaware state senators Members of the Delaware House of Representatives United States federal judges appointed by George Washington 18th-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware Signers of the United States Constitution People of colonial Delaware Politicians from Philadelphia