Mary Todd Lincoln after her son Robert had her involuntarily confined to Bellevue Place, a psychiatric hospital in Batavia, Illinois, and, together with his wife, played a key role in convincing a court to declare Mary Todd Lincoln competent to handle her own finances. 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. Bradwell died in Chicago on November 30, 1907. He, Myra, and Bessie are buried at Rosehill Cemetery. His granddaughter Myra Bradwell Helmer Pritchard became a noted golfer. References 1828 births 1907 deaths English emigrants to the United States People from Loughborough Politicians from Chicago Illinois lawyers Illinois state court judges Members of the Illinois House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges Burials at Rosehill Cemetery