Bernard G. Caulfield

Who was Bernard G. Caulfield?

Bernard Gregory Caulfield was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, Caulfield received a classical education. He was graduated from Georgetown College, Washington, D.C. in 1848, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School at Philadelphia in 1850. He was admitted to the bar in 1850 and commenced the practice of law in Lexington, Kentucky. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1853 and continued the practice of his profession.

Caulfield was elected in 1874 as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth Congress to succeed John B. Rice, who had not sought reelection; when Rice died a month after the election, Caulfield won an additional special election to complete Rice's term in the Forty-third Congress, and served from February 1, 1875 to March 3, 1877. He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1876.

He resumed the practice of law. He moved to Dakota Territory in 1878 and settled in Deadwood. He continued the practice of law and became a large landowner. He died in Deadwood on December 19, 1887. He was interred in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.