James B. Bradwell

James Bolesworth Bradwell (April 16, 1828 – November 30, 1907) was a prominent Illinois lawyer, judge, and politician.

Biography James B. Bradwell was born April 16, 1828, in Loughborough, England. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Gutridge) Bradwell. Sixteen months after his birth, Bradwell's family moved to Utica, New York. In 1833, they moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, and the next year to Wheeling, Illinois. Bradwell subsequently grew up on a farm in Cook County, Illinois. Educated initially in a log schoolhouse, Bradwell later attended Wilson's Academy in Chicago and Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. During the American Civil War, he was an active supporter of the Union and opponent of the copperheads. In addition to passionate addresses, Bradwell wrote and performed songs promoting the Union cause, thus gaining him the nickname of the "sweet singer of Cook County".

Bradwell was active in affairs throughout his career. In 1869, for example, he presided during the organization of the American Woman Suffrage Association in Cleveland. At various points, he served as president of the Chicago Press Club, the Chicago Rifle Club, the Chicago Photographic Society, the Chicago Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. He served as the Illinois State Bar Association's historian, and would later be made an honorary member of the Illinois State Historical Society. He was one of the founders of the Union League Club of Chicago and served as its first president. At the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, he served as Chairman of the Photographic Congress Auxiliary. An active Freemason, Bradwell even went so far as to publish a collection of Ancient Masonic Rolls (and to argue that they indicated that women should be eligible for membership in the Freemason organization).

In 1894, Myra Bradwell died, and Judge Bradwell became publisher of the Chicago Legal News, the newspaper that Myra Bradwell had founded in 1868 and published ever since. His daughter, Bessie Bradwell Helmer served as his assistant, and, together, they would go on to edit the revised statutes of Illinois and a number of volumes of Illinois appellate court decisions. He, Myra, and Bessie are buried at Rosehill Cemetery.

His granddaughter Myra Bradwell Helmer Pritchard became a noted golfer.