Bledsoe, Albert T.

Born: 1809-11-09 Frankfort, Kentucky

Died: 1877-12-08 Alexandria, Virginia

Leaving behind a four-year career as an Episcopalian minister, Bledsoe was admitted to the bar and in 1839, he settled in Springfield, Illinois, where he became the law partner of Jesse B. Thomas. A year later he became the law partner of Edward D. Baker. He was active in Whig politics and was for a while the chief editorial writer for the Whig newspaper, Illinois State Journal. Until his departure from Springfield in 1847, Bledsoe was a friend and associate of Abraham Lincoln. Later on, however, Bledsoe became critical of Lincoln and served during the Civil War as the Confederacy's assistant secretary of war.

Steven E. Woodworth, "Bledsoe, Albert Taylor," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 3:11-12; Mark E. Neely Jr., The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982), 32; John M. Palmer, ed., The Bench and Bar of Illinois: Historical and Reminiscent (Chicago: Lewis, 1899), 1:174. Illustration courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield, IL.