Benjamin Alden Bidlack

Benjamin Alden Bidlack (September 8, 1804 – February 6, 1849) was an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and was appointed as a minister to New Granada.

Benjamin Bidlack
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th district
In office
March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845
Preceded byJames Gerry
Succeeded byOwen D. Leib
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 15th district
In office
March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843
Preceded byDavid Petrikin
Succeeded byHenry Nes
Personal details
Born
Benjamin Alden Bidlack

(1804-09-08)September 8, 1804
Paris, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 6, 1849(1849-02-06) (aged 44)
Bogota, Republic of New Granada
Political partyDemocratic

Early life and education

Bidlack was born in Paris, New York. He moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended the public schools. After graduating from the Wilkes-Barre Academy, Bidlack studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1825. He then established a legal practice in Wilkes-Barre.

Career

He was elected district attorney of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1825. In 1830, he moved to Milford, Pennsylvania and served as Pike County treasurer in 1834. He returned to Wilkes-Barre, and was elected a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1835 and 1836. He was editor of the Republican Farmer and the Democratic Journal in Wilkes-Barre.

Bidlack was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses. He was appointed Chargé d'Affaires to New Granada and on May 14, 1845. He successfully negotiated a “treaty of peace, amity, and navigation” with that secured for the United States the right to build a canal or railroad across the Isthmus of Panama. He died in Bogotá, Colombia in 1849, aged 44. He was interred in the English Cemetery.

Bidlack is remembered for signing the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, a treaty between the Republic of New Granada (today Colombia and Panama) and the United States, on December 12, 1846. He negotiated the pact with New Granada's commissioner Manuel María Mallarino.[1]

Death

While in the Republic of New Granada to negotiate the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, Bidlack died on February 6, 1849.[2]

References
  1. Kellogg Institute at the University of Notre Dame, November 14, 1996. "Towards 1999 : Highlights of an Historical Review (US-Panama Relations) in the context of an Electoral and Democratic Evolution" Archived 2011-06-15 at the Wayback Machine by Eduardo Valdés E.
  2. "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-05-19.

Sources
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
David Petrikin		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
1841–1843		 Succeeded by
Henry Nes
Preceded by
James Gerry		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district
1843–1845		 Succeeded by
Owen D. Leib
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
William M. Blackford		 United States Chargé d'Affaires, New Granada
5 December 1845 – 6 February 1849		 Succeeded by
Thomas M. Foote


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