Joseph M. Belford
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Joseph McCrum Belford (August 5, 1852 - May 3, 1917) was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, he attended Dickinson Seminary (in Williamsport, Pennsylvania) and was graduated from Dickinson College in 1871. He moved to Long Island, New York in 1884 and engaged in teaching at the Franklinville and Riverhead Academies. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1889, and commenced the practice of law in Riverhead. He served as secretary and chairman of the Suffolk County Republican committee and was clerk of the surrogate court.
Belford was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth Congress, holding office from March 4, 1897 to March 3, 1899. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress and in 1900 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Philadelphia. He resumed the practice of his chosen profession in Riverhead and also engaged in the banking business. He served as surrogate of Suffolk County from 1904 to 1910 and in 1917 died suddenly in Grand Central Station in New York City. Interment was in Riverhead Cemetery.
Belford's cousin, James Burns Belford of Colorado, was also a United States Representative.
