FREDERICK TRUMAN BRADLEY

Frederick Truman Bradley, the treasurer of the English & Mersick Company of New Haven, was born in this city November 28, 1860. The family name has long figured prominently on the pages of New England's history. William Bradley, a native of England, came to America in company with Governor Eaton and others and was active with those who aided in planting the seeds of civilization in the soil of the new world. He was married February 18, 1645, to Alice Pritchard and his death occurred in 1691. His son, Joseph Bradley, was born in 1646 and on the 25th of October, 1667, wedded Silence Brockett. His death occurred in 1704.

Samuel Bradley, a son of Joseph Bradley, was born in 1681 and departed this life in 1757. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Abigail Atwater, was born January 16, 1684, and died January 23, 1742. Their son, Samuel Bradley (II), was born March 21, 1707, and, on the 16th of December, 1732, married Eunice Munson. They were residents of New Haven and of Wallingford. Their son, Titus Bradley, was born in 1746 and his life record spanned the intervening years to the 9th of February, 1811. In 1769 he married Lydia Yale Todd and they made their home in North Haven.

Titus Bradley, Jr., a son of Titus and Lydia Bradley, was born in New Haven in 1776, the year which virtually gave independence to the nation, and died in 1822. In 1805 he married Miss Mary Munson, who passed away in 1861. She was a daughter of Stephen and Mary (Goodyear) Munson and traced her ancestry back through Jabez and Eunice (Atwater) Munson and Stephen and Lydia (Bassett) Munson to Samuel and Martha (Bradley) Munson, so that in two lines the ancestry can be traced back to the same original source.

Seymour Bradley, son of Titus Bradley, Jr., and the grandfather of Frederick T. Brad-ley, was born August 14, 1806, and died April 25, 1890. On the 30th of September, 1829, he married Delia Barnes, who was born June 6, 1809, and passed away January 4, 1880. Her parents were Frederick and Eunetia (Blakeslee) Barnes, her line reaching back through Joshua and Mercy (Tuttle) Barnes. The former was a son of Captain Joshua and Deborah (Wooding) Barnes and Captain Barnes was a son of Thomas and Mary (Leek) Barnes, the former a son of Thomas and Abigail (Frost) Barnes, so that there is again connection of the Bradley family with one of the oldest families of New England. Seymour Bradley was a merchant on Chapel street in New Haven for many years, establishing business there when a young man.

Robert Barnes Bradley, the son of Seymour Bradley, was born March 10, 1832, in North Haven, Connecticut, and passed away in New Haven, January 22, 1890. He pursued his education in the latter city, attending the Lovell Lancastrian School and afterward the select school conducted by Mr. Thomas. He became his father's assistant in the store and there remained until 1858, when he turned his attention to the agricultural implement business, opening a store on State and Court streets. He there remained in active business for many years, being numbered among the leading merchants of the city, and at his death in 1890 he was succeeded by the firm of Bradley & Dann. He not only occupied an enviable position in commercial circles but was a prominent factor in the moral progress of the community as a leading member of Center church, in which he served as treasurer and on many important committees. He was married December 30, 1858, to Cornelia Minor and in the maternal line the ancestry of Frederick T. Bradley is equally interesting with that of the Bradley family. The line is traced back to Captain John and Elizabeth (Booth) Minor. Captain Minor was born in 1634 and his wife on the 12th of September, 1637. He passed away September 17, 1719, and her death occurred October 24, 1732. They were married October 19, 1658. In the succeeding generations the ancestry is traced down through Ephraim and Rebecca (Curtiss) Minor, Josiah and Mary (Barnum-Shove) Minor, Israel and Anna (Lake) Minor and Seth and Susannah (Frisbie) Minor, while the parents of Mrs. Bradley were Truman and Eunice (Peet) Minor. Her father was a member of the firm of Minor, Horton & Company, plow manufacturers of Peekskill, New York. His wife traced her lineage from John Peet, who came from England in 1635 on the sailing vessel Hopewell and settled at Stratford, Connecticut. The line comes down through Benjamin and Phebe (Butler) Peet, Benjamin and Priscilla (Fairchild) Peet, Richard and Sarah (Curtiss) Peet, Jehiel and Joanna (Walker) Peet, Jehiel and Lois (Manville) Peet to Mrs. Eunice (Peet) Minor, who was the mother of Mrs. Robert Barnes Bradley. The last named by her marriage became the mother of two daughters, Delia Barnes and Cornelia Minor, and two sons, Frederick T. Bradley and Robert Seymour, a physician of New Haven, who died January 29, 1890. The elder daughter married Charles W. Whittlesey.

In the acquirement of his education Frederick T. Bradley attended the Hopkina grammar school from which he was graduated with honor. He then entered the Yale Scien-tific School and completed his course in June, 1883. Thus well qualified for life's practical and responsible duties, he became his father's associate in business, the connection continuing until the latter's death in 1890. In that year he succeeded to the business in association with George E. Dann but after three years retired and on the 1st of January, 1894, became a member of the firm of English & Mersick. On the 28th of June, 1895, their business was incorporated under the style of the English & Mersick Company, with Edwin F. Mersick as the president and treasurer, Mr. Bradley as the secretary and John B. Kennedy as the vice president. Upon the death of Mr. Mersick, Mr. Kennedy succeeded to the presidency, while Mr. Bradley became treasurer and Carl W. Johnson, secretary. This association has since been maintained and under their guidance the business has shown substantial growth.

Mr. Bradley has been married twice. On the 15th of June, 1887, he wedded Sarah Emily Mersick, a daughter of Edwin F. Mersick, of New Haven. She was born August 27, 1863, and died September 15, 1906, in Luzerne, Switzerland. On the 26th of June, 1908, Mr. Bradley was again married, his second union being with Mary Elizabeth Mersick, a daughter of Charles S. Mersick. She was born May 6, 1866. By the first marriage there were two children. Seymour Mersick, born April 25, 1888, was educated in the public schools of New Haven and in the Holbrook school at Ossining, New York, while later he became a student in the Yale Scientific School, from which he was graduated in 1909 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He then entered Columbia University, where he won his Civil Engineer degree in 1913. He is now engineer for the English & Mersick Company and holds the office of secretary. He was married June 19, 1913, to Euth Plumb Bostwick, a daughter of Leonard and Helen F. (Plumb) Bostwick, and they have two children, Margaret Boatwick, and Seymour Mersick, Jr., born October 5, 1916, in New Haven. Mildred Bradley, born May 1, 1890, was educated in the public schools of New Haven and in Vassar College, where she won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1911. On the 17th of May, 1916, she became the wife of William Edwin Prindle, a son of Lucius H. and Frances (Harrison) Prindle. There is also one child of this marriage, William Edwin Prindle, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Bradley are members of the Center church and he is well known in club circles, belonging to the Graduates Club, the Quinnipiac Club, the New Haven Country Club, the Pine Orchard Club and the Yale and University Clubs of New York city. His political en-dorsement is given to the republican party and he has ever kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day but has never been active in political work, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business interests. Aside from being treasurer of the English & Mersick Company and thus actively engaged in the manufacture of automobile and carriage hardware, he is a director of the Yale National Bank and the New Haven Morris Plan Bank and thus figures prominently in local financial circles. The intelligent direction of his activities has brought him prominently to the front in business comnectionn whereby he has furthered public prosperity as well as individual success.