David Bradley (November 8, 1811 – February 19, 1899) was an American businessman and a pioneer plowman.

Biography

David Bradley was born in Groton, New York on November 8, 1811. After working with his brother, C. C. Bradley, for several years in

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, he relocated to Chicago in 1835. Initially he was in the employ of Jones, King & Co. and helped to build the first foundry in Chicago, known as the "Chicago Furnace". From the late 1830s until the 1850s David Bradley farmed in

Lake County, Illinois Lake County is situated in the northeastern corner of the U.S. state of Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,342, making it the third-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat ...

, made bricks, and later farm machinery, in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, and was a lumberman in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 1854, he returned to Chicago.

Company

In 1884, he purchased a plow company from his brother in law, and soon partnered with Conrad Furst to create Furst and Bradley. Furst and Bradley eventually grew to occupy an entire city block at Fulton and Desplaines Streets in Chicago. In 1884 David Bradley and his sons purchased Furst's share of the business, and the company was renamed the David Bradley Manufacturing Company. In 1895 the company was relocated to North Kankakee (about 50 miles south of Chicago), which was later renamed

Bradley, Illinois Bradley (formerly North Kankakee) is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of the city of Kankakee. The population was 15,895 at the 2010 census, up from 12,784 at the 2000 census. Bradley is a principal city of ...

in honor of the man and the company. In 1910, the Bradley family sold the factory to

Sears, Roebuck and Co. Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...

, at which time it was renamed the David Bradley Manufacturing Works. The name was subsequently changed to David Bradley Manufacturing Company and in 1958 the company introduced the Garden Riding Tractor and David Bradley became the largest manufacturer of garden riding tractors in the world.

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

also sold gasoline

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

manufactured by

Briggs and Stratton Briggs & Stratton Corporation is an American manufacturer of gasoline engines with headquarters in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Engine production averages 10 million units per year as of April 2015. The company reports that it has 13 large facilit ...

under David Bradley, replacing the previously used Economy name. In 1962 David Bradley Manufacturing Company and the Newark Ohio Company were merged into a single unit under the name Newark Ohio Company. The new company manufactured power lawn mowers, among other products. In 1964 another merger took place and the Newark Ohio Company was merged into the Geo. D. Roper Corporation with the plant in Newark, Ohio continuing to manufacture outdoor power equipment including riding and single power lawn mowers.

Family

Grave of David Bradley (1811–1899) at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago

On February 25, 1838 in Chicago, David Bradley married Cynthia Abbott (1817–1895) of

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. They had six children: * Byron Chapman Bradley, b. May 1, 1839 Libertyville, Lake County, IL, of Kankakee, IL, m. Alice M. Wilbur. Their son B. Harley Bradley built a house called ''Glenlloyd'', or the

B. Harley Bradley House The B. Harley Bradley House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home, constructed in the Prairie School style, that was constructed in Kankakee, Illinois in 1900–1901. History B. Harley Bradley and his wife, Anna Hickox Bradley, were the brothe ...

, designed by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, in

Kankakee, IL Kankakee is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley Metropolitan Statistical Area. It serves as an ...

. * Edgar Bradley, b. January 15, 1841 Libertyville, IL; d. there September 18, 1841. * Mary Ellen Bradley, b. September 14, 1842 Racine, WI; of Chicago, IL; d. October 1, 1899 Mt. Vernon, Westchester County, NY; m. Chicago October 10, 1865 George Cadogen Morgan (1834/35-). * Joseph Harley Bradley, b. September 30, 1844 Racine, WI; of Chicago, IL; m.

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, NY March 1, 1871 Margina J. Richards (c. 1846 – 1896) of New York, NY. * Adelbert Bradley, b. April 15, 1847 Racine, WI; d. there September 1848. * David Bradley, b. February 15, 1849 Chicago, IL; d. there February 15, 1849. David Bradley died at his home in Chicago on February 19, 1899, and was buried at

Rosehill Cemetery Rosehill Cemetery (founded 1859) is an American garden cemetery on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and at , is the largest cemetery in the City of Chicago. According to legend, the name "Rosehill" resulted from a City Clerk's error – the ar ...

References

External links

* *
David Bradley group on yahoo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, David 1811 births People from Groton, New York People from Lake County, Illinois Businesspeople from Illinois 1899 deaths Burials at Rosehill Cemetery