William J. Bradley

WILLIAM JAMES LEE BRADLEY was an American patternmaker, engineer, businessman and Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and President of the New Jersey Senate.

William J. Bradley was born in Sharptown, Maryland on May 5, 1852, the oldest child of Thomas Dryden Badley and Margaret Matilda Morris. Thomas Badley changed his name to Bradley in the 1870s. After the Civil War, his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware and then to Camden, New Jersey around 1872. Thomas Badley was a carpenter by trade, who had gone into the grocery business at 533 North 6th Street by 1880. 

William J. Bradley, upon first coming to Camden 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.

William J. Bradley's political career began in 1892, when he was elected to the Camden City Council. He was also elected to the General Assembly 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, 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 split from his Republican colleagues, supporting a number of legislative reforms favored by Governor Woodrow Wilson. In retaliation, Republican party leadership defeated his re-nomination to the Senate.

William J. Bradley died on October 13, 1916 following an emergency operation for uremic poisoning at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 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."

William J. Bradley's younger brother, Isaac V. Bradley, followed him to American Dredging and into local politics in Camden. As as a Republican in Camden's Seventh Ward, he was elected to city council four times and also served as City Clerk from 1907 to 1910. 

Bradley Avenue in Parkside was almost certainly named in his honor.

William J. Bradley was a member of Enterprise Lodge No. 12, Ancient Order of United Workmen. George Reeser Prowell wrote the following about this organization in his History of Camden County, New Jersey which was published in 1886:  

Ancient Order of United Workmen

The object of this order is to embrace and give equal protection to all classes and kinds of labor, mental and physical ; to strive earnestly to improve the moral, intellectual and social condition of its members ; to create a fund for the benefit of its members during sickness or other disability, and, in case of death, to pay a stipulated sum for each member, thus guaranteeing his family against want. Its jurisdictions are a Supreme Lodge, Grand and Subordinate Lodges. The Grand Lodge of Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware is thus officered: G. M. W., John J. Gallagher, of Wilmington, Del.; G. F., William H. Vermilye, Jersey City, N. J. ; G. O., James A. Vansant, Camden, N. J. ; G. G., John W. Diefendorf, Wilmington, Del.; G. R., A. F. Colbert, Baltimore; G. Receiver, Myer Hirsch, Baltimore ; G. M. E., G. S. Wilkins, M.D., Baltimore. 

Camden Lodge, No. 1. was chartered January 27, 1879, with these officers : Master Workman, Joseph R. Leaming; Foreman, Charles Markley; Overseer, George W. Coles; Recorder, Harry Ladow; Financier, William Thegen; Receiver, Albert P. Brown; Guide, William P. Partenheimer; Inside Watchman, Benjamin M. Denny; Outside Watchman, William Jones; Medical Examiner, H. Genet Taylor, M.D. These were also charter members, — Moore Beideman, Robert L. Barber, John F. Benner, De Witt C. France, Joel H. Evaul, Henry S. Fortiner, George R. Fortiner, Howard L. Gandy, Merritt Horner, William Struthers, Benjamin G. Smith, William H. Stansbury, Marmaduke B. Taylor, Frank S. Wells, John S. Wells. The lodge has one hundred and forty-eight members, with these officers: P. M. W., J. C. Prickett; M. W., Virgil Willetts; F., J. H. Le Chard; 0., R. R. Lewellen ; R., W. R. Lundrum; Fin. Sec, Charles Markley ; Rec. Sec, John Woltjen; G., J. S. Pike ; I. W., John W. Clopper, Jr. ; O. W., J. H. Evaul ; Medical Examiner, E. R. Smiley, M.D. 

Fidelity Lodge, No. 3, was instituted February 12, 1880, with forty-three charter members. At the end of first year it had sixty-five members, and it now has three hundred and thirty-eight. It is the largest lodge in the jurisdiction, which comprises the States of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia. The first officers were : Master Workman, William T. Brewer; Foreman, Isaac Shivers; Overseer, David C. Brewer; Recorder, August F. Richter; Financier, James F. Davis; Receiver, Thomas I. Gifford ; Guide, John E. Stratton ; Inside Watchman, William H. Cattman; Outside Watchman, J. Alfred Allen ; Trustees, Merritt Horner, George H. Amon, Richard D. Sheldon ; Past Master Workman, Merritt Horner. 

The present officers are Past Master Workman Jacob S. Jones; Master Workman, William C. Husted; Foreman, D. C. Vanote; Overseer, William H. Collins ; Recorder, Merritt Horner; Financier, N. C. Stowell ; Receiver, B. S. M. Branning; Guide, Joseph Ridgway; Inside Watchman, L. C. Harris; Outside Watchman, Robert D. Swain, Jr.; Trustees, John Harris, C. H. Sayre, Jacob S. Jones. 

Provident Lodge, No. 4, was organized March 11, 1880, with these charter members: Officers — P. W. M., B. F. Browning; W. M., Richard F. Smith ; F., Frank L. Vinton ; O., George B. Sellers; Fin., Charles J. Rainey; R., Irvine C. Beatty ; Rec, Goldson Test ; G., Alvah Bushnell ; I. W., C. S. Ball; O. W., Elwood Davis; M. E., Dr. Alexander Marcy ; Trustees, Rufus Hill, J. C. Hires. 

Those officiating at the organization in Association Hall were Past Masters Marmaduke B. Taylor, Charles Markley, George W. Coles, William Thegen, Harry Ladow, and others of Camden Lodge, No. 1. The Past Officers are: B. F. Browning, R. F. Smith, F. L. Vinton, G. B. Sellers, A. Bushnell, C. J.. Ball, Frank W. Tussey, E. Clark Yardley, J. E. Lippincott, Joseph A. Porter, G. Test, C. J. Rainey, I. C. Beatty, E. Davis, Harris Graflen, Charles H. Schitzler. The Present Officers are P. M. W., George C. Spooner; M. W., William J. Searle; Foreman, A. C. Smith ; O., John M. Eldridge ; Rec, G. Test; F., F. W. Tussey; G., C. A. Nicholson; I. W., K. McClung; O. W., G. W. Jackson; Trustees, Harris Graflen, J. E. Lippincott, C. V. D. Joline. The lodge has three hundred and nine members. 

Enterprise Lodge, No. 12, was organized in Odd-Fellows' lodge-room, Morgan's Hall, January 4, 1882, by George W. Coles and William Thegen, with these charter members : A. P. Brown, William Thegen, George W. Coles, George W. Doak, John T. Harker, Onan B. Gross, George C. Randall, John D. Kinsler, Frank P. Stoy, E. B. Slifer, Richard H. Brown, Jr., Lewis Simons, Thomas S. Hess, Jacob Schumacher, William T. Wentz, Henry E. Collins, Joseph Franklin, Alfred W. Test, Charles Hartzell, G. N. Buzby, Theo. B. Sage, Charles S. Gilbert, Ambrose R. Fish, James Watts, William A. Hamilton, William H. Swindell, Nathan F. Shinn, John Nulty, Samuel Robbins, Charles Bosch, C. Stanley French, H. B. Fowler, William J. Street, Robert H. Patton. The first officers were: P. M. W., William Thegen ; M. W., A. P. Brown ; Foreman, George W. Doak; Overseer, George C. Randall ; Recorder, Franklin P. Stoy ; financier, G. N. Buzby, Receiver, Samuel Robbins ; Medical Examiner, O. B. Gross, M.D. The Past Master Workmen arc George W. Coles, William Thegen, A. P. Brown, George W. Doak, William J. Bradley, P. A. Fowler, C. H. Fowler, Charles H. Barnard, G. N. Buzby, Dr. Onan B. Gross, Samuel Robbins, William T. Wentz. The officers for 1886 are P. M. W., William T. Wentz; R., George W. Doak; M. W., George W. Steed; Fin., William Thegen; F., R. H. Brown, Jr. ; Receiver, Samuel Robbins ; Overseer, H. B. Fowler; Medical Examiner, O. B. Gross, M.D. The lodge has ninety members.

Camden Daily Telegram * April 14, 1894

...continued...

John L. Westcott - George D. Borton
Samuel Iszard - Charles H. Ellis
James Hanson Jr. - Charles Hewston
James Elberson - Charles Wilbur
Samuel Sheer - John Sinclair
Elwin Steen - Albert Shaw
Charles H. Fitzsimmons - Abraham Jackson
Alfred Sayers - Edward S. Hyde
Thomas Buchanan - Jacob Hicks

Thomas Reed - Joseph Peall - George Horner John Beard - Thomas Mullane - John Painter

Police Commission - Benjamin Braker
Joseph Potter - Joseph B. Fox
Charles Sayrs - Arthur Bedell
William C. Figner 
William D. Brown - Frederick A. Rex
James R. Carson - William J. Bradley
Harry Miller - Henry Moffett

Camden Daily Courier
January 31,  1896

William J. Bradley
Thomas D. Bradley
Elm Street
Roxanna Turner
Jesse R. Turner
Division Street

Philadelphia Inquirer
February 4, 1900

Charles P. Sayrs
James Hanson Jr.
John H. Carmany
Isaac V. Bradley
William J. Bradley
Samuel P. Jones
Jesse Bond
Robert Smith
William B. Carter
George Arnold

Philadelphia Inquirer - September 5, 1903

Herbert W. Johnson
Mahlon F. Ivins Sr.
William J. Bradley
Maurice B. Rudderow
William C. Coffin
Harry C. Sharp
William D. Brown

Charles H. Ellis
Harry Jones
Isaac Moffett
John H. Carmany
Caleb Williams
A.L. Matlack
Frank WIlliams
William H. Sparks
C.S. Magrath
Joseph Nowrey
William J. Bradley
Jonathan D. Watson

Philadelphia Inquirer - January 17, 1906

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Bank Directory - March 7, 1916