James Burns Belford (Congressional Biographical Directory)

BELFORD, James Burns, (cousin of Joseph McCrum Belford), a Representative from Colorado; born in Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pa., September 28, 1837; attended the common schools and Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859; moved to California, Moniteau County, Mo., and commenced practice; moved to La Porte, La Porte County, Ind., in 1860; member of the State house of representatives in 1867; appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of Colorado in 1870 and moved to Central City; moved to Denver in 1883; upon the admission of Colorado as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress and served from October 3, 1876, until March 3, 1877; presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Forty-fifth Congress and served from March 4, 1877, until December 13, 1877, when he was succeeded by Thomas M. Patterson, who contested his election; elected to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1885); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Forty-seventh Congress); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1884; engaged in the practice of law in Denver, Colo., until his death there January 10, 1910; interment in Riverside Cemetery.