Joseph McCrum BELFORD, Congress, NY (1852-1917)

BELFORD, Joseph McCrum, (cousin of James Burns Belford), a Representative from New York; born in Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa., August 5, 1852; attended Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport, Pa., and was graduated from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., in 1871; moved to Long Island, N.Y., in 1884 and engaged in teaching at the Franklinville and Riverhead Academies; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1889 and commenced the practice of law in Riverhead, Long Island, N.Y.; served as secretary and chairman of the Suffolk County Republican committee; clerk of the surrogate court; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1899); was not a candidate for renomination in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress; delegate to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia in 1900; resumed the practice of his chosen profession in Riverhead, Suffolk County, Long Island, N.Y.; also engaged in the banking business; served as surrogate of Suffolk County from 1904 to 1910; died suddenly in Grand Central Station, New York City, May 3, 1917; interment in Riverhead Cemetery, Riverhead, Long Island, N.Y.

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