Alden Bradford

Alden Bradford
5th Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
In office
1812–1824
Preceded byBenjamin Homans
Succeeded byEdward D. Bangs
Personal details
Born(1765-11-19)19 November 1765
Duxbury, Massachusetts
Died26 October 1843(1843-10-26) (aged 77)
Boston, Massachusetts
Alma materHarvard College, 1786
OccupationPolitician, clergyman, writer

Alden Bradford (19 November 1765 – 26 October 1843) was an American politician, clergyman and author who served as the 5th Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Biography

Alden Bradford was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts on 19 November 1765.[1] He graduated from Harvard in 1786 and received a degree of LL.D. there.[2] He was then ordained as a Congregational church pastor, serving in Wiscasset, Maine. After moving to Boston he served from 1812 to 1824 as secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[2] At times a bookseller and journalist, his works included a History of Massachusetts and Memoir of the Life and Writings of Rev. Jonathan Mayhew.[3]

He was a descendant of Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford (c. 1590 – 1657).[4]

Alden Bradford built (or arranged to have built) the Bradford House, built 1794, a historic house in Wiscasset Historic District.[4]

He died in Boston on 26 October 1843.[2][1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Morison, Samuel Eliot (November 1921). "Memoir of Alden Bradford". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. LV: 153. Retrieved 21 March 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b c "The Late Alden Bradford, Esq". Christian Examiner and General Review. Boston, MA: James Munroe and Company: 375. January 1844. Retrieved 21 March 2023 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Bradford Family History (American Genealogical Research Institute, 1978).
  4. ^ a b Wolcott Andrews (1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Wiscasset Historic District / "Wiscasset Point"". National Park Service. Retrieved 15 July 2016. with 12 photos from 1972
Political offices
Preceded by 5th Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
1812–1824 		Succeeded by