William James Bradley (born William James Lee Badley, May 5, 1852 – October 13, 1916) was an American patternmaker,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, businessman and Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

and President of the New Jersey Senate.

Biography

Bradley was born in

Sharptown, Maryland Sharptown is a town in Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. The population was 651 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History San Domingo School was listed on the National ...

on May 5, 1852, the oldest child of Thomas Dryden Badley and Margaret Matilda Morris. After the Civil War, his family moved to

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

and then to Camden, New Jersey. In Camden he worked as a receiver at the Storey Cotton Company. In 1873 he joined the American Dredging Company of Philadelphia as a patternmaker, and rose through the ranks to become Chief Engineer and later General Superintendent of the Camden yards. In 1895 he designed the hydraulic dredge Delaware, and supervised its construction—on time and below budget—in a collaborative effort with the Bucyrus Steam Shovel & Dredge Company. Bradley became president of American Dredging in April 1908 on the death of his predecessor, L. Y. Schermerhorn. Bradley's political career began in 1892, when he was elected to the Camden City Council. He was also elected to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

and was re-elected four times. He was named Speaker of the Assembly for the 1901 and 1902 sessions. In 1902 he was elected to the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, serving three terms for Camden County. He was chosen as President of the Senate in 1905 and 1906. Bradley was one of the few politicians in state history to hold the leadership posts in both the Assembly and the Senate. In 1911, Bradley diverged from his Republican colleagues, supporting a number of legislative reforms favored by Governor

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. In retaliation, Republican party leadership defeated his renomination to the Senate. Bradley died on October 13, 1916 following an emergency operation for uremic poisoning at the

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. His widow received the following condolences from President Wilson: "My dear Mrs Bradley, It is with genuine grief that I have heard of the death of your husband. I learned in my association with him at Trenton to respect his character and judgment very deeply, and I feel that in him we have lost a man of high principle and great public usefulness. I felt that I could not deny myself this expression of admiration and deep regret. Cordially and sincerely yours, Woodrow Wilson."

References

External links

William J. Bradley
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, William J. 1852 births 1916 deaths 19th-century American engineers Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Patternmakers (industrial) Politicians from Camden, New Jersey Presidents of the New Jersey Senate 19th-century American politicians Engineers from New Jersey