Gunning Bedford

Gunning Bedford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the College of New Jersey (now called Princeton), in 1771, he settled in Delaware as a lawyer. He attended the Continental Congress from 1783 to 1786, and was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention in 1786. In 1787, he attended the Philadelphia Convention, opposing a strong central government in favor of the rights of smaller states. He signed the US Constitution as "Gunning Bedford jun," to distinguish himself from his older cousin, who had the same name. In 1789, President Washington appointed him US District Judge for Delaware, an office he held until his death in Wilmington, Delaware, on March 30, 1812.