Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Henry Marie Brackenridge and Caroline Marie




Husband Henry Marie Brackenridge 1 2




           Born: 11 May 1786 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 18 Jan 1871 4
         Buried: 


         Father: Hugh Henry Brackenridge (1748-1816) 2
         Mother: 


       Marriage: 



Wife Caroline Marie 3

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 


Children
1 M Benjamin Morgan Brackenridge 1 4

           Born: 5 Nov 1828 - Philadelphia, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 1862-1863
 Cause of Death: Tuberculosis
         Buried: 
         Spouse: Phillipine Stieren (      -      ) 1 4
           Marr: 10 Feb 1853 1



General Notes: Husband - Henry Marie Brackenridge


His father very early discovered in him traces of a superior intellect, and determined to cultivate this to the utmost. His early education was acquired altogether under private tuition, a part of this being imparted by his father personally, in whose study a small table was placed for the exclusive use of his son. At the age of seven years he was sent to a French school at St. Genevieve, in Upper Louisiana, in order to obtain a complete mastery of the French language. This experiment was attended with the most complete success. He was about fifteen years of age when his father was appointed to the supreme bench of Pennsylvania, and he was then placed in the office of the prothonotary or clerk of the court, to prepare him for taking up the study of law. He remained there two years, then entered the office of a practicing attorney, and read law to such good effect that he was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty years. Returning to his father's home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, he spent more than a year, by the advice of his father, in the special study of the law of equity and maritime law, and qualified himself for practice along those lines, intending to open an office in the city of Baltimore, with its magnificent harbor facilities. Upon going to that city, he entered the office of a practitioner in chancery, and also attended general court sessions, where he had the opportunity of listening to some of the foremost lawyers of the day. He found, however, that the large number of lawyers in the city was altogether out of proportion to the size of its population, and decided that he would have a better opportunity of making his way in a smaller town. Having heard that there was but one lawyer in the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania, he went to that town, and took possession of the office which had but recently become vacant, owing to the death of his predecessor. Here he acquired a lucrative practice. In 1810 Mr. Brackenridge took his departure for Upper Louisiana, and upon his arrival there was most heartily received by the family with whom he had lived while at school at St. Genevieve. It happened to be court week, and he was engaged in several important cases. He then went to St. Louis, Missouri, and while there proceeded with the compilation of the data for his work on Louisiana, which was published in Pittsburgh, in 1812. In the year 1811 he was appointed deputy attorney general for the territory of New Orleans, afterwards the state of Louisiana. Later, although only twenty-three years of age, he was appointed district attorney. He was an intimate friend of Presidents Madison and Monroe, and took an active part in favor of the United States acknowledging the independence of the South American colonies. He wrote a paper in the form of a letter addressed to "An American," sent this to President Monroe, and it was republished in England in the Pamphleteer, and translated into the French and Spanish languages. In 1821 he was appointed United States judge for the Western District of Florida, and filled this office for a period of more than ten years.
He married and his wife was the owner of a valuable tract of land along the Pennsylvania canal, and they moved to that section. From twenty to twenty-two hundred acres of land were in this parcel, and Mr. Brackenridge later founded the town of Tarentum, between which and Natrona was situated the beautiful country residence of the family. On this same tract grew up another town, Brackenridge, just above Tarentum. In 1840 Mr. Brackenridge was elected to the United States congress, and the following year was appointed commissioner under the Mexican treaty, in conjunction with Governor Marcy, of New York. With the exception of a term in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1844, he lived retired until his death.


General Notes: Wife - Caroline Marie

from Philadelphia, PA

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Sources


1 —, The History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Part II (Chicago, IL: A. W. Warner & Co., 1889), Pg 436.

2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 774.

3 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 775.

4 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Western Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915), Pg 776.


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