American author and jurist, son of Hugh Henry Brackenridge; born in Pittsburg on the 11th of May 1786; died on the 18th of January 1871, in the same city. He began his legal studies when fifteen, and at twenty-three had been appointed district judge of New Orleans. At that time he devoted his attention chiefly to the study of Spanish law and the history of Louisiana, the results of these researches being published in 1812. He vigorously urged recognition, by the United States, of the South American republics, and in 1817 was appointed secretary of the commission sent to visit them. The observations made upon the journey were published by him in A Voyage to South America, the most reliable source of information concerning its subject-matter to be had in its time. In 1821 he was appointed United States judge for the western district of Florida, and in 1840, having taken up his residence in Pittsburg, was elected to Congress, but retired to private life without taking his seat. His writings include Recollections of Persons and Places in the West; Essay on Trusts and Trustees; and History of the Western Insurrection. See also “The ‘Constitution’ and the ‘Guerriere’” and “Battle of the Thames.”
