Abraham Bradley Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 22, 1767 |
| Died | May 7, 1838 (aged 71) Washington, D.C. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Abraham Bradley IV |
| Alma mater | Litchfield Law School |
| Occupation | Assistant Postmaster General |
| Years active | 1793–1829 |
| Employer | Post Office Department |
| Spouse | Hannah Smith |
| Children | Joseph Habersham Bradley, son |
| Relatives | Phineas Bradley, brother |
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Abraham Bradley Jr. (February 22, 1767 – May 7, 1838) was an American lawyer, judge, and cartographer who was an assistant postmaster general for 30 years during the earliest history of the United States Post Office Department.
The continuity brought by Bradley's long employment during the tenure of five United States postmasters generals helped establish the budding postal service as a reliable provider. While not trained as an artist or cartographer, Bradley created innovative and detailed postal route maps that improved the office's efficiency. In 1796, Bradley drew one of the first comprehensive maps of the United States; it "represented the first clear cartographic break in European-dominated map making and introduced a new, more distinctly American style of cartography to the United States."[1] In 1800, Bradley oversaw the move of the federal government's post office from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the new capital at Washington, D.C., briefly hosting the national post office in his own home.
- ^ Ristow, Walter W. (1985). American maps and mapmakers - Commercial Cartography in the nineteenth century. quoted in Smith, Ben A.; Vining, James W. (2003). American Geographers, 1784-1812: a bio-bibliographical guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 23. ISBN 0-313-32336-4. Retrieved June 8, 2009.