Henry Marie BRACKENRIDGE, Congress, PA (1786-1871)
BRACKENRIDGE, Henry Marie, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 11, 1786; instructed by his father and private tutors; attended a French academy at St. Genevieve, La.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1806 and practiced in Somerset, Pa., until 1810; appointed deputy attorney general of the Territory of Orleans (Louisiana) in 1811; district judge of Louisiana in 1812; appointed secretary of a mission to South America in 1817; judge for the western district of Florida 1821-1832; returned to Pennsylvania in 1832 and became owner of a large tract of land upon which he founded the town of Tarentum, Pa.; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Richard Biddle and served from October 13, 1840, to March 3, 1841; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1840; member of the commission under the treaty with Mexico in 1841; engaged in literary pursuits until his death in Pittsburgh, Pa., January 18, 1871; interment in Prospect Cemetery, Brackenridge, Pa.
Bibliography
Keller, William F. T he Nationâs Advocate: Henry Marie Brackenridge and Young America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1956.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
