Biography

09/08/1804 - 02/06/1849

BIDLACK, Benjamin Alden, a Representative from Luzerne County; born, September 8, 1804 in Paris, Oneida County, NY; graduated, Wilkes-Barre Academy; studied law under Garrick Mallery; lawyer (1825-1849); elected, District Attorney, Luzerne County (1825); editor, Northern Eagle (1828-1830); commissioner, Wyoming and Lehigh Railroad Company (1833); publisher and editor, Republican Farmer and Democratic Journal (1833-1835); elected, treasurer, Pike County (1834); elected as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 1834-1835 and 1835-1836 term; elected, United States Congress (1841-1845); unsuccessful campaign for reelection to Congress (1845); appointed, Charge d ’Affairs, Republic of New Granada (now Colombia) (1845-1849); died, February 6, 1849 in Bogota, Distrito de Capital, Republic of New Granada (now Colombia); interred, English Cemetery, Bogota, Distrito de Capital, Republic of New Granada (now Colombia).