Bradford Ripley WOOD, Congress, NY (1800-1889)

WOOD, Bradford Ripley, a Representative from New York; born in Westport, Conn., September 3, 1800; attended the common schools and was graduated from Union College at Schenectady, N.Y., in 1824; was engaged in teaching and lecturing; studied law at the Litchfield (Conn.) Law School; was admitted to the bar in 1827 and commenced practice in Albany, N.Y.; on May 29, 1827, was made solicitor in the court of chancery of New York State, and on June 6, 1830, rose to the position of chancellor of the same court; became counselor in the New York Supreme Court in 1835 and in the United States Supreme Court in 1845; member of the Albany County board of supervisors in 1844; was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1847); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress; president of the Young Men’s Temperance Society in 1851; trustee of Union College, Williams College, and the Albany Law School; vice president of the Albany Medical College; one of the founders of the Republican Party in New York State in 1856; vice president of the American Home Missionary Society; founder of the First Congregational Church in Albany; United States Minister to Denmark from 1861 to 1865; died in Albany, N.Y., September 26, 1889; interment in Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany County, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present