F. Randolph, to one of two new Jersey City judgeships, but the Democratic Senate rejected a Republican Bedle nominated for the other seat. Bedle appointed another Republican, also rejected, before dismissing the Senate and appointing the Republican ad interim. During a railroad strike in 1877, Bedle called up the state National Guard to protect the trains and replacement crews. Post-governorship After leaving office, Bedle returned to the private practice of law and served as legal counsel for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. He joined the board of directors of many prominent corporations. He declined three appointments to judgeships and presidential nominations as minister to Russia and Austria. In the last year of his life, Bedle served on the New Jersey Constitutional Commission of 1894. Personal life He married Althea Fitz Randolph (c. 1830–1926), the daughter of a local lawyer and niece of future New Jersey Governor Theodore Fitz Randolph, in 1861. They had four sons, Joseph Dorsett Bedle, Jr. (1864-1917), Bennington Fitz Randolph Bedle (1862-1917), Thomas Francis Bedle (1865-1922), and Randolph Bedle (1875-1880), and two daughters, Mary Howell Bedle (1873-1880) and Althea Fitz Randolph Bedle (1871-1957). Bedle was an Honorary Member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Death and legacy Bedle died at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City on October 21, 1894 from complications from surgery for bladder stones. He was buried at Maplewood Cemetery in Freehold Township. See also List of governors of New Jersey References External links New Jersey Governor Joseph Dorsett Bedle, National Governors Association Joseph Dorsett Bedle, The Political Graveyard Dead Governors of New Jersey bio for Joel Parker 1831 births 1894 deaths State and National Law School alumni New Jersey lawyers Democratic Party governors of New Jersey New Jersey state court judges Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey People from Matawan, New Jersey American Protestants Burials at Maplewood Cemetery, Freehold, New Jersey 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians