Gunning Bedford Sr.
American politician 1742-1797
Gunning Bedford Sr. (April 7, 1742 – September 30, 1797) was an American lawyer and politician from New Castle, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware. He is often confused with his cousin, Gunning Bedford Jr., who was a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787.
Early life and family
Bedford was born on a farm in New Castle Hundred, near the town of New Castle, son of William and Catherine Jacquett Bedford. William Bedford was the grandson of another William Bedford who came to Delaware from Virginia around 1680, and who himself was the grandson of an English immigrant to Jamestown, Virginia, in 1621. Gunning Bedford was educated at the Academy of Pennsylvania and married Mary Read, the sister of George Read in 1769. They had no children. They lived at 6 The Strand in New Castle and were members of Immanuel Episcopal Church. He began his career as a merchant at New Castle, but later studied law, and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1779.
The public source identifies “Gunning Bedford Sr.” as american politician 1742-1797. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Gunning, Bedford and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Gunning Bedford Sr.”, the useful work is to connect “american politician 1742-1797” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q434615. VIAF identifies the subject as 68349762. The Library of Congress control number is n2005213006. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1742, 1797, 1787 and 1680.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Gunning Bedford Sr.”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Gunning Bedford Sr. primary sources, Gunning Bedford Sr. archive and Gunning research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gunning Bedford Sr.”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Gunning Bedford Sr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.