Stephen Row Bradley | |
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18th and 23rd President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
In office December 28, 1808 – January 8, 1809 |
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Preceded by | Samuel Smith |
Succeeded by | John Milledge |
In office December 14, 1802 – October 16, 1803 |
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Preceded by | Abraham Baldwin |
Succeeded by | John Brown |
United States Senator from Vermont |
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In office October 15, 1801 – March 3, 1813 |
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Preceded by | Elijah Paine |
Succeeded by | Dudley Chase |
In office October 17, 1791 – March 3, 1795 |
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Preceded by | (none) |
Succeeded by | Elijah Paine |
9th Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
In office 1785–1786 |
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Preceded by | Nathaniel Niles |
Succeeded by | John Strong |
Personal details | |
Born |
Cheshire, Connecticut |
February 20, 1754
Died | December 9, 1830 Walpole, New Hampshire |
(aged 76)
Resting place | Westminster Cemetery Westminster, Vermont |
Political party |
Anti-Administration Democratic-Republican |
Spouse(s) | Merab Atwater Bradley Gratia Thankful Taylor Bradley Belinda Willard Bradley |
Children | William Czar Bradley |
Alma mater | Yale |
Profession | Lawyer Judge Politician |
Stephen Row Bradley (February 20, 1754 – December 9, 1830) was an American lawyer, judge and politician. He served as a United States Senator from the state of Vermont and as the Senate's presiding officer during the early 1800s.
Bradley was born on February 20, 1754, in the part of Wallingford, Connecticut that is now Cheshire. He was the son of Moses and Mary (Row) Bradley. He was the grandson of Stephen Bradley, a New Haven silversmith who was one of six brothers who served in Cromwell's Ironsides before emigrating to America.
Bradley graduated from Yale College in 1775.
After his graduation, Bradley was commissioned as captain in the Connecticut Militia and rose to the rank of major. He commanded the Cheshire Volunteers and in December 1776, he served as adjutant. He was promoted to vendue master (auctioneer of seized enemy and Loyalist property) and quartermaster, and then served as aide-de-camp to General Wooster during the British attack on Danbury on April 27, 1777 when Wooster was fatally wounded. Bradley resigned his commission after the battle.
He received a Master of Arts degree from Yale in 1778. In 1779, he moved to Westminster, Vermont and studied law, directed by Tapping Reeve, founder of the Litchfield Law School. Bradley was admitted to the bar in 1779 and began the practice of law in Westminster, becoming an important citizen of the town. In October 1779, the Legislature selected him as one of five agents to the U.S. Congress from Vermont; in early 1780, he wrote a tract entitled Vermont's Appeal to a Candid and Impartial World, which defended Vermont's right to independence against competing claims by New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.