Bradley, Joseph 3rd

Birth

Joseph Bradley, 3rd was born April 10, 1771, the son of Joseph Bradley 2nd. (October 19th, 1746 -) and Martha Bates (July 19th, 1749 - ), daughter of Elias Bates. His siblings were:

• Isaac, born Sept. lo, 1769, died Sept., 1834, at Onondaga.
• Daniel, born August, 1773, died —
• Thankful, born August 25, 1775, died —
• Sarah, born Sept. i, 1777, died Jan. 7, 1838, at Danbury.

Isaac married Sarah Williams, a daughter of Dr. John Williams, of Fairfield, who, when a boy, had been carried away captive by the Indians, and lived with them several years, learning many of their simple remedies for curing diseases, of which he made profitable use in his subsequent practice as a physician. Another daughter of his, a Mrs. Babcock, confided to me a specific remedy for curing cancer, the recipe for which was left to her by her father, and which has proved effectual in several cases. Isaac left Connecticut at the same time with his father, and after staying awhile at Bern, emigrated to Onondaga County, New York, where he spent the rest of his life; leaving behind him several sons, Elias, John and Orsemus ; another son, Joseph, having died unmarried.

Daniel married Poll Holmes, I think of Danbury. He also emigrated to Onondaga, after residing a short period in Bern ; and left one son, Abraham, who resided, the last that I heard of him, at Syracuse. Daniel lived to be very old. I heard of him as still living when he was past 90 years of age.

Thankful married Sherwood Fanton, of Danbury, I believe, and never left Connecticut.

Sarah married Daniel Holmes, of Danbury, and died there in 1838.

Occupation

My grandfather, Joseph Bradley, 3rd, born April 10, 1771, was put out by his father with Elnathan Williams, of Weston, Fairfield County, to learn the trade of tanning, and the manufacture of leather in all its forms, shoes, harness, saddles, bridles, etc., a trade which stood him in good stead when he removed to the recesses of the Helderberg mountains. Before leaving Connecticut, in 1794, he married Mary Wheeler, daughter of Calvin Wheeler, of the township of Fairfield, an Episcopalian by persuasion, and of a highly respectable character. Mrs. Schenck sends me a memorandum of a marriage recorded between Calvin Wheeler and Ruhamah Bradley, July 5, 1762. She was probably daughter of Daniel Bradley 2d, and born July 31, 1745; or of Peter Bradley, and born 1743. But she must have died soon after her marriage, because the wife of Calvin Wheeler, who became the mother of his children was Mary Thorp. I have a copy of their family record which is as follows :

Calvin Wheeler, born Jan. 1742; died March 17, 1831. Mary Thorp, born Aug. 21, 1745 ; died April 17, 1828.

Marriage & Children

Before leaving Connecticut, in 1794, Joseph Bradley, 3rd married Mary Wheeler, the daughter of Calvin Wheeler (Jan. 1742 - March 17, 1831) and Mary Thorp (Aug. 21, 1745 - April 17, 1828). Their children were:

• Philo Bradley, (my father) born March 23, 1795.
• Olive, born December 30, 1797 : married John Fisher.
• Elam, born January 9, 1801.

My aunt Olive Fisher, (who was named after her great-grandmother, Olive Hubbell) removed from Bern with her husband to Lewis County, N. Y., (the Black River Countiy) in 1824. They had several sons and daughters, who are mostly settled in that region.

My uncle Elam, remained on the farm with my grandfather until after the latter's death. He let it slip out of his hands, however, and subsequently removed to Albany, where he died several years ago. He had one son, John, and two or three daughters, of whom I have lost sight. I believe John, the son, died unmarried. Thus the old place which had been the family home for seventy years, fell into the hands of strangers, and I have had no heart to visit it since.

Death

Joseph Bradley III died May 23, 1854, at Bern.

Additional Media

Bradley, Franklin G., is a grandson of

Philo Bradley, an early settler of Berne, Albany county, and a son of

Daniel G. Bradley, for many years deputy sheriff, and was born in Berne, December 28, 1849. Daniel G. came to Albany in 1857 and was long a prosperous merchant. He married Arvilla Nelson, and of their nine children seven sons are living.

With the exception of six years spent on a farm in Guilderland, Franklin G. Bradley has been engaged in the mercantile business since he reached the age of twenty. He established his present grocery and provision store on Beaver street in 1878 and in 1893 moved to No. 99 Hudson avenue. He is a member of Wadsworth Lodge No. 417, F. & A. M., Fort Orange Council. R. A., and American Lodge No. 32, L O. O. F. In 1868 he married Alice M., daughter of Hiram Gardner of Franklin, Va , who died in 1891, leaving three children: Daniel G., Jennie E. and Franklin G., jr. He married, second, in 1892, Mrs. Celia (Reed) Weidman of Summit, Schoharie county.

Landmarks of Albany County, New York

Sources

---