ANDREW R. BRADLEY

Andrew R. Bradley, late president of the Bradley-Smith Company, was one of New Haven's foremost business men and for nearly fifty years was prominently identified with its interests. A native of North Haven, he came from the old family of that name whose ancestral line can be traced back to William Bradley, who arrived in America in 1649. Henry M. Bradley, the father of Andrew R. Bradley, resided in North Haven and was a farmer and manufacturer.  Throughout his life he was a member of the Congregational church and was highly respected. In politics he was a stanch republican and took an active and helpful part in promoting those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. He died at North Haven in 1873 at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Bolen, was a native of New Jersey and a descendant of an old family of that state, of Scotch lineage. She became the mother of five sons, two of whom passed away in infancy and two at the age of twenty-six years, leaving Andrew R. Bradley as the only surviving member of the family. The mother died at North Haven when sixty-two years of age.

Andrew R. Bradley spent his early youth upon the home farm and in the manner common to country lads of that period. There was plenty of work to do and early in life he received a training upon the value of which he many times reflected in his later years. His boyhood days brought him a better knowledge of the practical side of life than falls to the average boy of his age. Being the eldest son in the family and left fatherless at the age of fifteen years, grave responsibilities devolved upon him. No duty was ever shirked and he measured up to his responsibilities in a manner becoming one of much greater age. Farm work did not seem to promise a glowing future, however, and to fit himself for other active business he supplemented his early training in the schools of North Haven by a course in Cargill's Business College of New Haven.

While yet a pupil there Mr. Bradley determined that he would seek in New Haven some commercial vocation whereby he could earn not only a livelihood but one which would constitute an entrance into broader fields of labor. Accordingly one bright morning in the spring of 1870 he made a careful survey and inspection of several wholesale and retail stores in the neighborhood of Congress and George streets and finally made application for a position in the store of Charles H. Reed, a wholesale and retail grocer. He was closely questioned as to what he could do and his experience. Mr. Reed recognized in the lad a spirit of willingness seldom found in boys starting out and consented to give him a week's trial, it being mutually agreed that he would be paid what he was worth and if he was worth nothing he would receive nothing. On those conditions he began his commercial career and when the week was over Mr. Reed paid him seven dollars, which in those days was considered a very high wage for one just making his initial step in the business world. Mr. Bradley made good from the start. He possessed self-reliance and natural ability, was ener-getic and industrious. Long hours and hard work had no terrors for him. He did not have to be told what to do. He could see what there was to be done, was not afraid to do it and performed every task we'll. His progress is probably best shown by the fact that within two months from the time he started "on trial" and with no stipulated salary his wages had been advanced to fifteen dollars per week. This was at a time when wages generally were low even for those days. He remained with his first employer until the close of the year, when Mr. Bradley told Mr. Reed that he would leave his position in order to continue his education. The later, reluctant to lose him, offered him still higher wages. Mr. Bradley, however, believed that he needed more thorough and extensive educational training as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties and again entered Cargill's Business College.

On completing his studies he used the sum of money he had saved and which had not been required for tuition to establish a candy business, finding it necessary also to borrow several hundred dollars. The beginning of the enterprise was small but the business proved a success from the start. In fact it demonstrated the young man's ability to manage a business for himself just as well as he had performed the work for an employer. Successfully conducting this enterprise for several years, Mr. Bradley at length disposed of the business and became associated with B. H. Douglas & Sons, first as a traveling representative and later on a mutual interest basis. He remained with that firm until 1892, when he retired from that connection and established the business from which has grown the Bradley-Smith Company of today, one of the largest candy manufacturing and wholesale houses in New England. The plant is situated at Nos. 102-116 Hill street. Mr. Bradley was president from its organization. He had numerous business interests. He was an extensive stockholder and one of the directors of the Mechanics Bank and was also identified with various other concerns.

In Wallingford, Connecticut, on the 14th of January, 1878, Mr. Bradley was married to Miss Adelaide Augusta Hall, a daughter of the late William Day and Harriet (Perkins) Hall, of that city.

In politics Mr. Bradley was a stanch republican and he took a keen interest in the success of his party. He belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, also to the Union League Club and manifested a continuous interest in all those forces which work for civic improvement. He held membership in the Calvary Baptist church, in which he filled important offices. As a natural result of a long, honorable and successful business connection there came to him an extensive acquaintance in New Haven, where his worth and high standing as a citizen and business man were surpassed by few if any. A man of great energy and a tireless worker, he accomplished at the age of forty what many would have considered a substantial achievement for an entire lifetime. He had not lived to accumulate wealth but had realized that the individual must grasp life's pleasures and recreations as the years roll on and to this end he traveled extensively in America and abroad. He always was considerate of the interests and rights of others and there were few careers which show so fine an example of filial devotion as that of Mr. Bradley. From the time when in early boyhood he first became a wage earner it was his great pleasure to contribute to the comfort of his widowed mother and his younger brothers, whom he assisted in educating. Later in life as his financial resources increased this contribution became more substantial and continued as long as his mother and other members of the family lived. He continually reached out a helping hand where aid was needed and his entire career indicated a marked unselfishness and a true regard for his obligations and responsibilities to his fellowmen. His life record should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished through determined effort, stimulated by laudable ambition and guided by sound judgment. Mr. Bradley passed away January 5, 1918, his demise causing widespread regret and deep sorrow. His name, however, still lives on as an example of true and noble manhood.