Joseph Bradley Varnum Jr. (June 9, 1818, in Washington, D.C. – December 31, 1874, in Astoria, Queens, then Long Island City, now in Queens, New York City) was an American lawyer and politician.
[1] He studied law at Yale and with Roger B. Taney in Baltimore, Maryland, and was admitted to the bar in 1840.
Varnum was chosen Speaker pro tempore in June 1851, and presided over the Assembly for the duration of the special session.
In 1871, he took an active part in the agitation against corruption in the government of New York City.
He was a contributor to magazines and newspapers, and published in book form The Seat of Government of the United States (New York, 1848) and The Washington Sketch-Book.