Alameda County Biographies

ALONZO BRADFORD

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

	Alonzo Bradford, filling the position of postmaster at Hayward, was born in Madison 
county, Ohio, December 9, 1841. The public schools of southeastern Iowa afforded him his 
educational privileges following the removal of the family to that section. When nineteen 
years of age he enlisted for service in Company F, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was 
later transferred to the First Regiment, Missouri Light Artillery, and remained with the Army 
of the Cumberland for four years. Following the close of the war he returned to Iowa and there 
engaged in farming for one year. He next went to Missouri and purchased a farm, which he 
operated for three years. On disposing of his property he came to the coast and in 1873 
established his home at Hayward, where he embarked in carpentering. Later, as he became known, 
he began contracting on his own account and continued in that business for several years. 
Following the election of President Benjamin Harrison he was appointed postmaster of Hayward 
and filled the position acceptably for four years and seven months. Upon his retirement from 
the office he once more engaged in contracting and building for a time and in April, 1903, he 
was again appointed to the office of postmaster, in which position he has remained continuously 
since, covering a period of nearly twelve years, so that his entire incumbency in the position 
covers sixteen years. His record speaks for itself. Abraham Lincoln has said: "You can fool 
some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool 
all of the people all of the time," and when a man has been as long in public office as Mr. 
Bradford it is indication that the great majority have faith in his ability and efficiency and 
indorse his actions and his policy.
	In politics Mr. Bradford has always been a stanch republican, unfaltering in his 
allegiance to the party, and in addition to serving as postmaster, he was a member of the board 
of town trustees and for two terms was its president. He has also served as school trustee and 
is interested in everything that pertains to the welfare and progress of his community.
	In Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1865, Mr. Bradford was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Glascock, of West Virginia, and they have one son, Harry A., who is the first lieutenant of the 
Hayward National Guards and assistant postmaster at Hayward. Mrs. Bradford is an active member 
of the Methodist church. Mr. Bradford has membership in Eucalyptus Lodge, A. F. & A. M., which 
he joined as a charter member on its organization in 1876. He is now treasurer of that lodge and 
is the only charter member still living. He likewise belongs to Lookout Mountain Post, G. A. R., 
and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades, with whom he loves to recount 
the incidents and experiences of the war, when, as "boys in blue" they followed the old flag upon 
the battlefields of the south. The same spirit of patriotism has ever characterized him in all of 
the relations of life and Hayward numbers him among its most valued citizens.

Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 468