Abraham Bradley, Jr.
| Abraham Bradley, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 22, 1767 Litchfield, Connecticut |
| Died | May 7, 1838 (aged 71) Washington, D.C. |
| Residence | Chevy Chase, Maryland |
| Nationality | United States |
| Other names | Abraham Bradley IV |
| Alma mater | Litchfield Law School |
| Occupation | Assistant Postmaster General |
| Years active | 1793–1829 |
| Employer | Post Office Department |
| Spouse(s) | Hannah Smith |
| Children | Joseph Habersham Bradley, son |
| Relatives | Phineas Bradley, brother |
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Abraham Bradley, Jr. (February 22, 1767 – May 7, 1838) was an American lawyer, judge, and cartographer who was assistant postmaster general for 30 years during the earliest history of the United States Post Office Department. Bradley was responsible for moving the federal government's post office from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the new capital at Washington, D.C., hosting the national post office in his own home for a period. The continuity brought by Bradley's long employment during the tenure of five different United States postmasters general helped establish the budding postal service as a reliable provider; Bradley drew detailed and innovative postal route maps which contributed significantly to the office's efficiency. Bradley's original work of 1796 was one of the first comprehensive maps of the United States as it existed, which "represented the first clear cartographic break in European-dominated map making and introduced a new, more distinctly American style of cartography to the United States."
Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, Abraham Bradley was the fourth consecutive scion of the colonial family established by early Guilford, Connecticut, pioneer Stephen Bradley to bear the surname Abraham. Abraham Bradley's father Abraham was himself a Yale College graduate who listed his various employments: "... a surveyor of land, master of a vessel, selectman, town treasurer, representative in the state legislature, justice of the peace, a zealous Whig, captain in the Revolutionary War, judge of the court, town clerk, and something of a scribbler in prose and verse." The son Abraham Bradley showed promise as a student and graduated from the celebrated law school run by Litchfield attorney Tapping Reeve.
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