Representative Allen Alexander Bradford

Allen Alexander Bradford (July 23, 1815 – March 12, 1888) was an American attorney, judge, and Republican politician who played a prominent role in the legal and political development of several western territories, most notably Colorado. He served as associate judge of the United States District Court for Colorado Territory from 1862 to 1865 and as territorial delegate from Colorado Territory to the United States House of Representatives from 1865 to 1867 and again from 1869 to 1871.

Bradford was born in Friendship, Maine, on July 23, 1815, a son of Cornelius Bradford and Hannah (Gay) Bradford. He was raised on his family’s farm and attended local schools before pursuing further studies at several academies in the Camden, Maine, area. After completing his formal education, he taught school while reading law in the Thomaston, Maine, office of Jonathan Cilley. This combination of teaching and legal study laid the foundation for a career that would take him across the expanding American frontier.

In 1841, Bradford moved west to Atchison County, Missouri, where he continued to teach school and study law. He attained admission to the bar in 1845 and commenced practice in Atchison County. That same year he began service as clerk of the circuit court of Atchison County, a position he held from 1845 to 1850. In 1850 he joined the California Gold Rush, traveling to the West Coast in search of opportunity, but he decided not to remain in California and returned to Missouri in 1851. Later in 1851 he moved to Sidney, Iowa, where he resumed the practice of law. From 1852 to 1855 he served as judge of Iowa’s sixth judicial district, gaining experience on the bench that would later inform his work in other territories.

In 1855, Bradford relocated to Nebraska City in Nebraska Territory, where he continued his legal practice and quickly entered public life. He was elected to the territorial house of representatives and served in the second, third, and fourth sessions of the legislature in 1856, 1857, and 1858. His legislative service in Nebraska Territory reflected his growing prominence as a lawyer and public official in the developing West. In 1860 he moved again, this time to Central City in Colorado Territory, where he resumed the practice of law amid the mining boom and rapid settlement of the region.

Bradford’s judicial career in Colorado began in 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln appointed him associate judge of the United States District Court for Colorado Territory, effectively a justice of the territory’s supreme court, on June 6, 1862. Following his appointment, he moved to Pueblo, Colorado. He served on the territorial bench from 1862 until 1865, presiding over a formative period in Colorado’s legal system. He resigned his judgeship in 1865 after being elected to represent Colorado Territory in Congress.

In 1864, Bradford was elected as Colorado’s territorial delegate to the United States House of Representatives. He served in the Thirty-ninth Congress from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1867. As a nonvoting delegate, he represented the interests of Colorado Territory during the early years of Reconstruction, advocating for the territory’s development and eventual statehood. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1866 and returned to Pueblo, where he resumed the practice of law.

Bradford reentered congressional service in 1868, when he was again elected as Colorado’s territorial delegate. He served in the Forty-first Congress from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1871. After completing his second term, he returned once more to Pueblo to continue his legal career. In addition to his private practice, he served as county attorney of Pueblo County from 1871 to 1881, further cementing his role in the civic and legal affairs of the community.

Allen Alexander Bradford spent his later years in Pueblo, remaining a respected figure in Colorado’s legal and political circles. He died in Pueblo on March 12, 1888 (some sources record March 13, 1888). He was buried in City Cemetery in Pueblo. His career, spanning multiple territories and encompassing service as a teacher, lawyer, judge, legislator, and congressional delegate, reflected the broader story of American expansion and institution-building in the nineteenth-century West.