Bedford, Gunning, 1747-1812

Gunning Bedford Jr. (April 13, 1747 – March 30, 1812) was an American Founding Father, delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (Continental Congress), Attorney General of Delaware, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 which drafted the United States Constitution, a signer of the United States Constitution, and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

Born in Philadelphia, Gunning graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) with honors. He was admitted to the Delaware bar and entered private practice in Dover from 1779 to 1783. On July 17, 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to elect Bedford to deputy-muster-general for New York in the Continental Army, during the American Revolutionary War. On February 28, 1776, he was assigned to the northern army in Canada to muster troops there monthly. On June 18, 1776, he was promoted to muster-master-general and assigned to New York. He served briefly as an aide to General George Washington.

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