JOSEPH P. BRADLEY was born in Berne, New York on March 14, 1813. He attended a country school and began teaching at the age of sixteen. He attended Rutgers University several years later and was graduated in 1836. Bradley studied law in the Office of the Collector of the Port of Newark, New Jersey, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. For thirty years, he specialized in the practice of patent, commercial, and railroad law. In 1862, after lobbying in Washington for a compromise settlement of the Civil War, Bradley was a Unionist candidate for the United States House of Representatives but did not win election. President Ulysses S. Grant nominated Bradley to the Supreme Court of the United States on February 7th, 1870. The Senate confirmed the appointment on March 21, 1870. In 1877, Bradley served on the electoral commission created to decide the outcome of the disputed 1876 presidential election. The commission was divided seven to seven on partisan lines. Bradley voted with the Republicans on all issues, making Rutherford B. Hayes President by a margin of one electoral vote. Bradley served on the Supreme Court for twenty-one years. He died on January 22, 1892, at the age of seventy-eight.
Members support the Society’s efforts to increase awareness of the Court’s contributions to our nation’s constitutional heritage. Benefits include: Court history publications, special event invitations, discounts.
SCHS sponsored events cover Supreme Court history themes, from early landmark figures and cases such as McCullough, to civics, labor, women’s rights, immigration, Constitutional controversies.
Documentaries covering landmark points on the timeline of Supreme Court history, including: FDR’s court packing controversy, the contested 1876 election + John Marshall & Marbury v. Madison.
Visit the Supreme Court Historical Society’s CIVICS website to learn about the history and cases of the Supreme Court of the United States and gain insights into key figures associated with the Court.
A timeline of Supreme Court history, including the Marshall and Warren Courts + landmark cases: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, and significant rulings in women’s rights court cases.