James Burns Belford was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, cousin of Joseph McCrum Belford.

Biography

Born in Lewistown, Pennsylvania

Lewistown, Pennsylvania

Lewistown is a borough in and the county seat of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies along the Juniata River, northwest of Harrisburg. The number of people living in the borough in 1900 was 4,451; in 1910, 8,166; and in 1940, 13,017. The population was 8,998 at the 2000 census,...

, Belford attended the common schools and Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...

.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar

Admission to the bar in the United States

In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...

 in 1859.
He moved to California, Missouri

California, Missouri

California is a city in Moniteau County, Missouri, United States. The 2010 census has the population at 4,278. It is the county seat of Moniteau County. It is the third largest city in the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

, and commenced practice.
He moved to La Porte, Indiana, in 1860.
He served as member of the State house of representatives in 1867.
He was appointed an associate justice of the supreme court of Colorado in 1870 and moved to Central City.
He moved to Denver in 1883.
Upon the admission of Colorado as a State into the Union was elected as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 to the Forty-fourth

44th United States Congress

The Forty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1875 to March 4, 1877, during the seventh and...

 Congress and served from October 3, 1876, until March 3, 1877.
Presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Forty-fifth

45th United States Congress

-House of Representatives:-Leadership:-Senate:*President: William A. Wheeler *President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry -House of Representatives:*Speaker: Samuel J. Randall -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

 Congress and served from March 4, 1877, until December 13, 1877, when he was succeeded by Thomas M. Patterson, who contested his election.

Belford was elected to the Forty-sixth

46th United States Congress

The Forty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1879 to March 4, 1881, during the last two years of...

, Forty-seventh

47th United States Congress

The Forty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881 to March 4, 1883, during the administration...

, and Forty-eighth

48th United States Congress

The Forty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...

 Congresses (March 4, 1879-March 3, 1885).
He served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Treasury (Forty-seventh Congress).
He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1884.
He engaged in the practice of law in Denver, Colorado

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, until his death there January 10, 1910. In the mid-1890s he gained notoriety for successfully defending Denver bad man Soapy Smith

Soapy Smith

Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado; Creede, Colorado; and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898. He was killed in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf...

 in several cases. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)

Riverside Cemetery, established in 1876, is Denver, Colorado's oldest operating cemetery. More than 67,000 people are buried there, including 1,000 veterans.-Location and operation:...

.