Joseph Dorsett Bedle (5 January 1831-21 October 1894) was the Democratic Governor of New Jersey from 19 January 1875 to 15 January 1878, succeeding Joel Parker and preceding George B. McClellan.
Biography[]
Joseph Dorsett Bedle was born in Matawan, New Jersey in 1831, and he practiced law in his hometown and Freehold Township before serving as an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1865 to 1875 and as Governor from 1875 to 1878. He supported corporate regulations, home rule for municipalities, and economic thrift, and he suppressed an 1877 railroad strike. He went on to become a counsel and board member for several corporations, and he died in 1894.