DIED IN HIS CHAIR
Bradley, Multi-Millionaire Lumberman Had Been Married But A Few Days
Bride's Honeymoon Was Spent in Constant Attendance Upon Hr Dying Husband
Milwaukee, Jan. 8. -- William H. Bradley, multi-millionaire lumberman, whose marriage to Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, on Monday, while he was ill in his chair, caused such a sensation, is dead. He passed away yesterday afternoon in the same chair he sat in during the marriage ceremony. His wife, and his adopted son, William T. Bradley, were present when he breathed his last.
Mr. Bradley had been in failing health for several years, cirrhosis of the liver having set in. About ten days ago he expressed a desire to wed his secretary, whom he had known for twenty years, and who had been closely associated with him in his business transactions.
Soon after the marriage, he began to fail, but he regained full command of his faculties and his mind was clear to the end.
He did not seem to realize that he was dying and chatted during the morning hours with his bride, who during her honeymoon, watched at his deathbed.
The funeral of Mr. Bradley will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the family residence. At the request of Mr. Bradley, his body will be cremated at Forest Home Cemetery. This is the only dying request Mr. Bradley made.
OFTEN IN MINNEAPOLIS
Colonel "Bill" Bradley, or "Tomahawk" Bradley as he was called, was well known to lumbermen and railroad officials in Minneapolis. He was a director of the Soo Road and frequently came to the city. He was an intimate friend of F. D. Underwood when he was general manager of the Soo Road, of the late Colonel John T. West and others.
It was he who induced W. G. Collins of the Milwaukee Road to resign as general manager to go into the lumber business with him in Tomahawk.
Mr. Bradley was, with W.T. Watkins, the founder of the
Bradley-Watkins company whose offices are in the Lumber Exchange of which Mr. Collins is president, and he was at death a director in this company.
While somewhat eccentric, he was a man of many excellent qualities. He had his own peculiar ideas about many matters of a social, religious, and economic nature, and was independent, yet considerate, in asserting himself. The Colonel was a man of the rough-and-ready type, not caring for social display. He was kind-hearted and sympathetic to a marked degree.
It is told of him that when the trains on the Soo do not run to accommodate those who wished to visit Tomahawk, Mr. Bradly purchased a sleeper, placed it on his own road in charge of a porter, and when the train left Tomahawk over the Bradley line it carried this sleeper to the junction where it was sidetracked. The passengers who came off the Soo train, and who formerly had to wait during the early morning hours for the train from Tomahawk, were given sleeping quarters in the car at regular hotel rates. In the morning they are hauled to Tomahawk and become guests of Mr. Bradley's Hotel.
WHOLE TOWN HIS FRIENDS
A story illustrating some of Bradley's characteristics if of an incident when the Wisconsin editors were entertained by "Colonel" Bill with a trip to the woods n his houseboat flotilla hauled up the river by a tug. The day was finished with a banquet at the hotel. After this, the party set up late in the office telling stories. Finally, United States Marshall T. B. Reid said:
"Well, Bill, I am going to turn in. You call your friends together and I will stand treat, and then bid you goodnight."
Mr. Bradley stepped over to the corner of the office, turned in a fire alarm from the hotel, and in about five minutes the population of the city came rushing into the hotel, some no more than half dressed.
"There are my friends!" remarked Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley did much for charity in a quiet way, and with his former wife, who died last November, was a liberal contributor to all movements toward relief of the poor. The Wisconsin Humane Society is an institution he liberally supported.
Bishop Grafton asked Mr. Bradley for aid in establishing an Episcopal Mission at Tomahawk. When told it would cost $10,000.
he said: "Well, by jingo, Tomahawk has got to have a mission." It was founded and so spread that Bradley thought he ought to have another at his second town a few miles away. "We called on the clergyman and said:
"D__n it, parson, we've got to put in a mission over there at Spirit Falls. "It will be an expensive thing. What is the necessity for it?"
"Well parson, they've got a saloon over there that is raising merry H__l and we got to do something to counteract its influence.
The Spirit Falls Mission was built and maintained by Mr. Bradley.
Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Mn. Thur., Jan.08, 1903, ~ km
====
WAS FAMILIAR CHARACTER
COL. WILLIAM BRADLEY, WHO DIED WEDNESDAY, WAS WELL-KNOWN HERE ~ THEY WILL MISS HIM
Col. "Bill" Bradley, whose death in Milwaukee, following so closely his marriage to Miss Marie Hannemeyer, has created a sensation all over the Northwest, where he was so well known, will be nowhere more missed than at the East Hotel in Minneapolis, where he was a periodical guest and a valued associate of nearly all the well-known men who make the house their headquarters.
Colonel Bradley at the time of his death is said by his friends here to have been worth at a rough estimate something like $12,000,000. Hundreds of people in Minneapolis who saw hi98jm very often thought he was a rough and ready lumber cruiser beating out $100 a month by hoofing it over the northern pine lands on behalf of local companies.
In fact, Colonel Bradley was a cruiser and one of the best who ever hit tall timber. Nothing delighted him better than to get out with one of his own men and "hike" over innumerable miles of virgin forest, sleeping in the woods and taking potluck with the man who had to do it for a living. Bradley was a giant in physique, broad of shoulder and massive limbed. He was the best physical demonstration of the North-Western Pioneer to be found.
ALREADY ACQUAINTED HERE
When Mr. Bradley first showed up at the West Hotel a good many years ago he was already known to many Minneapolis people, being a relative of the Morrisons and Washburns. The man who first tried to install Bradley in a room, who by the way, is still in the employ of the hotel, will never forget his experience.
The colonel had just come in from a long cruise. He was attired, as usual, in a cruising outfit, huge boots, a dark soft shirt, string necktie, soft felt hat, and Mackinaw coat. With him was one of his cruisers, similarly attired.
"I want the best in the house," remarked Colonel Bradley, "and I want it right quick--get action."
The clerk tried to convince his apparently rough customer that the very best rooms in the house were on the seventh floor in the rear, but that did not suit Bradley a little bit.
"Look here, young fellow, " he roared, "I'm going to get on the ground floor, and you'd better fix it suddenly."
COL. WEST APPEARED
Just at this juncture, Colonel John T. West appeared on the scene. He stared at Colonel Bradley for a moment, took in the herculean frame, the long gray locks, and the still grayer beard that hung to the colonel's belt, and then, so to speak, threw himself into the big fellow's arms.
In very characteristic language Colonel West demonstrated to the rath indignant Bradley that he was more glad to see him than he would have been to encounter the rajah of Mysore or any other splendid personage.
Somewhat mollified, Colonel Bradley consented to renew his acquaintance with Colonel West. He was promptly assigned to 128-30 on the parlor floor, and those are the best rooms in the house.
For all the rest of the time that Colonel Bradley spent under the West Hotel roof, he got those rooms as soon as he poked his beard inside the front door. Nothing else would do, and the suite had to be let always subject to the possible arrival of "Bill" Bradly from Tomahawk.
Colonel Bradley's friendships with F. D. Underwood and Walter Collins are matters of tradition in the house. He thought well of
T. J. Gray, who was manager of the hostelry under Colonel West, and in fact had a host of friends whose work he had demonstrated by that curious quality of analysis that belongs to frontiersmen. He had become used to judging men in his lumbering and railroad operations. It is related to him that h seldom made a mistake in selecting either the foreman of a timber gang or the friend he invited to dinner.
PROBABLY A WILL
In case there is no will, of course, Mrs. Bradley will receive one-third of the estate, but it is believed among those who knew the old gentleman best that he has left everything in such shape that there can be no dispute over the great property. It is believed that when his will is probated bequests will be found to Mr. Underwood, Mr. Collins and others who were his close friends in Minneapolis. The remains of the millionaire will in all probability be interred in Milwaukee.
He married Susan Susanna (Devlin) on 23 Sep 1896 in Cherry Grove, Goodhue, MN. Two sons and a daughter were born to them; Vincent Joseph 'Vint' Bradley 1897–1976; Patrick John (John P) Bradley 1898–1944 and Genevieve Bradley
1900–1900. Mrs. Bradley died on 16 April 1905 in Goodhue County, MN.
He married Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, in 1903? She survives along with her son, whom Mr. Bradley adopted.
Star Tribune 09 Jan 1903, Fri · Page 4 ~ km
Bradley, Multi-Millionaire Lumberman Had Been Married But A Few Days
Bride's Honeymoon Was Spent in Constant Attendance Upon Hr Dying Husband
Milwaukee, Jan. 8. -- William H. Bradley, multi-millionaire lumberman, whose marriage to Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, on Monday, while he was ill in his chair, caused such a sensation, is dead. He passed away yesterday afternoon in the same chair he sat in during the marriage ceremony. His wife, and his adopted son, William T. Bradley, were present when he breathed his last.
Mr. Bradley had been in failing health for several years, cirrhosis of the liver having set in. About ten days ago he expressed a desire to wed his secretary, whom he had known for twenty years, and who had been closely associated with him in his business transactions.
Soon after the marriage, he began to fail, but he regained full command of his faculties and his mind was clear to the end.
He did not seem to realize that he was dying and chatted during the morning hours with his bride, who during her honeymoon, watched at his deathbed.
The funeral of Mr. Bradley will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the family residence. At the request of Mr. Bradley, his body will be cremated at Forest Home Cemetery. This is the only dying request Mr. Bradley made.
OFTEN IN MINNEAPOLIS
Colonel "Bill" Bradley, or "Tomahawk" Bradley as he was called, was well known to lumbermen and railroad officials in Minneapolis. He was a director of the Soo Road and frequently came to the city. He was an intimate friend of F. D. Underwood when he was general manager of the Soo Road, of the late Colonel John T. West and others.
It was he who induced W. G. Collins of the Milwaukee Road to resign as general manager to go into the lumber business with him in Tomahawk.
Mr. Bradley was, with W.T. Watkins, the founder of the
Bradley-Watkins company whose offices are in the Lumber Exchange of which Mr. Collins is president, and he was at death a director in this company.
While somewhat eccentric, he was a man of many excellent qualities. He had his own peculiar ideas about many matters of a social, religious, and economic nature, and was independent, yet considerate, in asserting himself. The Colonel was a man of the rough-and-ready type, not caring for social display. He was kind-hearted and sympathetic to a marked degree.
It is told of him that when the trains on the Soo do not run to accommodate those who wished to visit Tomahawk, Mr. Bradly purchased a sleeper, placed it on his own road in charge of a porter, and when the train left Tomahawk over the Bradley line it carried this sleeper to the junction where it was sidetracked. The passengers who came off the Soo train, and who formerly had to wait during the early morning hours for the train from Tomahawk, were given sleeping quarters in the car at regular hotel rates. In the morning they are hauled to Tomahawk and become guests of Mr. Bradley's Hotel.
WHOLE TOWN HIS FRIENDS
A story illustrating some of Bradley's characteristics if of an incident when the Wisconsin editors were entertained by "Colonel" Bill with a trip to the woods n his houseboat flotilla hauled up the river by a tug. The day was finished with a banquet at the hotel. After this, the party set up late in the office telling stories. Finally, United States Marshall T. B. Reid said:
"Well, Bill, I am going to turn in. You call your friends together and I will stand treat, and then bid you goodnight."
Mr. Bradley stepped over to the corner of the office, turned in a fire alarm from the hotel, and in about five minutes the population of the city came rushing into the hotel, some no more than half dressed.
"There are my friends!" remarked Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley did much for charity in a quiet way, and with his former wife, who died last November, was a liberal contributor to all movements toward relief of the poor. The Wisconsin Humane Society is an institution he liberally supported.
Bishop Grafton asked Mr. Bradley for aid in establishing an Episcopal Mission at Tomahawk. When told it would cost $10,000.
he said: "Well, by jingo, Tomahawk has got to have a mission." It was founded and so spread that Bradley thought he ought to have another at his second town a few miles away. "We called on the clergyman and said:
"D__n it, parson, we've got to put in a mission over there at Spirit Falls. "It will be an expensive thing. What is the necessity for it?"
"Well parson, they've got a saloon over there that is raising merry H__l and we got to do something to counteract its influence.
The Spirit Falls Mission was built and maintained by Mr. Bradley.
Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Mn. Thur., Jan.08, 1903, ~ km
====
WAS FAMILIAR CHARACTER
COL. WILLIAM BRADLEY, WHO DIED WEDNESDAY, WAS WELL-KNOWN HERE ~ THEY WILL MISS HIM
Col. "Bill" Bradley, whose death in Milwaukee, following so closely his marriage to Miss Marie Hannemeyer, has created a sensation all over the Northwest, where he was so well known, will be nowhere more missed than at the East Hotel in Minneapolis, where he was a periodical guest and a valued associate of nearly all the well-known men who make the house their headquarters.
Colonel Bradley at the time of his death is said by his friends here to have been worth at a rough estimate something like $12,000,000. Hundreds of people in Minneapolis who saw hi98jm very often thought he was a rough and ready lumber cruiser beating out $100 a month by hoofing it over the northern pine lands on behalf of local companies.
In fact, Colonel Bradley was a cruiser and one of the best who ever hit tall timber. Nothing delighted him better than to get out with one of his own men and "hike" over innumerable miles of virgin forest, sleeping in the woods and taking potluck with the man who had to do it for a living. Bradley was a giant in physique, broad of shoulder and massive limbed. He was the best physical demonstration of the North-Western Pioneer to be found.
ALREADY ACQUAINTED HERE
When Mr. Bradley first showed up at the West Hotel a good many years ago he was already known to many Minneapolis people, being a relative of the Morrisons and Washburns. The man who first tried to install Bradley in a room, who by the way, is still in the employ of the hotel, will never forget his experience.
The colonel had just come in from a long cruise. He was attired, as usual, in a cruising outfit, huge boots, a dark soft shirt, string necktie, soft felt hat, and Mackinaw coat. With him was one of his cruisers, similarly attired.
"I want the best in the house," remarked Colonel Bradley, "and I want it right quick--get action."
The clerk tried to convince his apparently rough customer that the very best rooms in the house were on the seventh floor in the rear, but that did not suit Bradley a little bit.
"Look here, young fellow, " he roared, "I'm going to get on the ground floor, and you'd better fix it suddenly."
COL. WEST APPEARED
Just at this juncture, Colonel John T. West appeared on the scene. He stared at Colonel Bradley for a moment, took in the herculean frame, the long gray locks, and the still grayer beard that hung to the colonel's belt, and then, so to speak, threw himself into the big fellow's arms.
In very characteristic language Colonel West demonstrated to the rath indignant Bradley that he was more glad to see him than he would have been to encounter the rajah of Mysore or any other splendid personage.
Somewhat mollified, Colonel Bradley consented to renew his acquaintance with Colonel West. He was promptly assigned to 128-30 on the parlor floor, and those are the best rooms in the house.
For all the rest of the time that Colonel Bradley spent under the West Hotel roof, he got those rooms as soon as he poked his beard inside the front door. Nothing else would do, and the suite had to be let always subject to the possible arrival of "Bill" Bradly from Tomahawk.
Colonel Bradley's friendships with F. D. Underwood and Walter Collins are matters of tradition in the house. He thought well of
T. J. Gray, who was manager of the hostelry under Colonel West, and in fact had a host of friends whose work he had demonstrated by that curious quality of analysis that belongs to frontiersmen. He had become used to judging men in his lumbering and railroad operations. It is related to him that h seldom made a mistake in selecting either the foreman of a timber gang or the friend he invited to dinner.
PROBABLY A WILL
In case there is no will, of course, Mrs. Bradley will receive one-third of the estate, but it is believed among those who knew the old gentleman best that he has left everything in such shape that there can be no dispute over the great property. It is believed that when his will is probated bequests will be found to Mr. Underwood, Mr. Collins and others who were his close friends in Minneapolis. The remains of the millionaire will in all probability be interred in Milwaukee.
He married Susan Susanna (Devlin) on 23 Sep 1896 in Cherry Grove, Goodhue, MN. Two sons and a daughter were born to them; Vincent Joseph 'Vint' Bradley 1897–1976; Patrick John (John P) Bradley 1898–1944 and Genevieve Bradley
1900–1900. Mrs. Bradley died on 16 April 1905 in Goodhue County, MN.
He married Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, in 1903? She survives along with her son, whom Mr. Bradley adopted.
Star Tribune 09 Jan 1903, Fri · Page 4 ~ km
DIED IN HIS CHAIR
Bradley, Multi-Millionaire Lumberman Had Been Married But A Few Days
Bride's Honeymoon Was Spent in Constant Attendance Upon Hr Dying Husband
Milwaukee, Jan. 8. -- William H. Bradley, multi-millionaire lumberman, whose marriage to Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, on Monday, while he was ill in his chair, caused such a sensation, is dead. He passed away yesterday afternoon in the same chair he sat in during the marriage ceremony. His wife, and his adopted son, William T. Bradley, were present when he breathed his last.
Mr. Bradley had been in failing health for several years, cirrhosis of the liver having set in. About ten days ago he expressed a desire to wed his secretary, whom he had known for twenty years, and who had been closely associated with him in his business transactions.
Soon after the marriage, he began to fail, but he regained full command of his faculties and his mind was clear to the end.
He did not seem to realize that he was dying and chatted during the morning hours with his bride, who during her honeymoon, watched at his deathbed.
The funeral of Mr. Bradley will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the family residence. At the request of Mr. Bradley, his body will be cremated at Forest Home Cemetery. This is the only dying request Mr. Bradley made.
OFTEN IN MINNEAPOLIS
Colonel "Bill" Bradley, or "Tomahawk" Bradley as he was called, was well known to lumbermen and railroad officials in Minneapolis. He was a director of the Soo Road and frequently came to the city. He was an intimate friend of F. D. Underwood when he was general manager of the Soo Road, of the late Colonel John T. West and others.
It was he who induced W. G. Collins of the Milwaukee Road to resign as general manager to go into the lumber business with him in Tomahawk.
Mr. Bradley was, with W.T. Watkins, the founder of the
Bradley-Watkins company whose offices are in the Lumber Exchange of which Mr. Collins is president, and he was at death a director in this company.
While somewhat eccentric, he was a man of many excellent qualities. He had his own peculiar ideas about many matters of a social, religious, and economic nature, and was independent, yet considerate, in asserting himself. The Colonel was a man of the rough-and-ready type, not caring for social display. He was kind-hearted and sympathetic to a marked degree.
It is told of him that when the trains on the Soo do not run to accommodate those who wished to visit Tomahawk, Mr. Bradly purchased a sleeper, placed it on his own road in charge of a porter, and when the train left Tomahawk over the Bradley line it carried this sleeper to the junction where it was sidetracked. The passengers who came off the Soo train, and who formerly had to wait during the early morning hours for the train from Tomahawk, were given sleeping quarters in the car at regular hotel rates. In the morning they are hauled to Tomahawk and become guests of Mr. Bradley's Hotel.
WHOLE TOWN HIS FRIENDS
A story illustrating some of Bradley's characteristics if of an incident when the Wisconsin editors were entertained by "Colonel" Bill with a trip to the woods n his houseboat flotilla hauled up the river by a tug. The day was finished with a banquet at the hotel. After this, the party set up late in the office telling stories. Finally, United States Marshall T. B. Reid said:
"Well, Bill, I am going to turn in. You call your friends together and I will stand treat, and then bid you goodnight."
Mr. Bradley stepped over to the corner of the office, turned in a fire alarm from the hotel, and in about five minutes the population of the city came rushing into the hotel, some no more than half dressed.
"There are my friends!" remarked Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley did much for charity in a quiet way, and with his former wife, who died last November, was a liberal contributor to all movements toward relief of the poor. The Wisconsin Humane Society is an institution he liberally supported.
Bishop Grafton asked Mr. Bradley for aid in establishing an Episcopal Mission at Tomahawk. When told it would cost $10,000.
he said: "Well, by jingo, Tomahawk has got to have a mission." It was founded and so spread that Bradley thought he ought to have another at his second town a few miles away. "We called on the clergyman and said:
"D__n it, parson, we've got to put in a mission over there at Spirit Falls. "It will be an expensive thing. What is the necessity for it?"
"Well parson, they've got a saloon over there that is raising merry H__l and we got to do something to counteract its influence.
The Spirit Falls Mission was built and maintained by Mr. Bradley.
Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Mn. Thur., Jan.08, 1903, ~ km
====
WAS FAMILIAR CHARACTER
COL. WILLIAM BRADLEY, WHO DIED WEDNESDAY, WAS WELL-KNOWN HERE ~ THEY WILL MISS HIM
Col. "Bill" Bradley, whose death in Milwaukee, following so closely his marriage to Miss Marie Hannemeyer, has created a sensation all over the Northwest, where he was so well known, will be nowhere more missed than at the East Hotel in Minneapolis, where he was a periodical guest and a valued associate of nearly all the well-known men who make the house their headquarters.
Colonel Bradley at the time of his death is said by his friends here to have been worth at a rough estimate something like $12,000,000. Hundreds of people in Minneapolis who saw hi98jm very often thought he was a rough and ready lumber cruiser beating out $100 a month by hoofing it over the northern pine lands on behalf of local companies.
In fact, Colonel Bradley was a cruiser and one of the best who ever hit tall timber. Nothing delighted him better than to get out with one of his own men and "hike" over innumerable miles of virgin forest, sleeping in the woods and taking potluck with the man who had to do it for a living. Bradley was a giant in physique, broad of shoulder and massive limbed. He was the best physical demonstration of the North-Western Pioneer to be found.
ALREADY ACQUAINTED HERE
When Mr. Bradley first showed up at the West Hotel a good many years ago he was already known to many Minneapolis people, being a relative of the Morrisons and Washburns. The man who first tried to install Bradley in a room, who by the way, is still in the employ of the hotel, will never forget his experience.
The colonel had just come in from a long cruise. He was attired, as usual, in a cruising outfit, huge boots, a dark soft shirt, string necktie, soft felt hat, and Mackinaw coat. With him was one of his cruisers, similarly attired.
"I want the best in the house," remarked Colonel Bradley, "and I want it right quick--get action."
The clerk tried to convince his apparently rough customer that the very best rooms in the house were on the seventh floor in the rear, but that did not suit Bradley a little bit.
"Look here, young fellow, " he roared, "I'm going to get on the ground floor, and you'd better fix it suddenly."
COL. WEST APPEARED
Just at this juncture, Colonel John T. West appeared on the scene. He stared at Colonel Bradley for a moment, took in the herculean frame, the long gray locks, and the still grayer beard that hung to the colonel's belt, and then, so to speak, threw himself into the big fellow's arms.
In very characteristic language Colonel West demonstrated to the rath indignant Bradley that he was more glad to see him than he would have been to encounter the rajah of Mysore or any other splendid personage.
Somewhat mollified, Colonel Bradley consented to renew his acquaintance with Colonel West. He was promptly assigned to 128-30 on the parlor floor, and those are the best rooms in the house.
For all the rest of the time that Colonel Bradley spent under the West Hotel roof, he got those rooms as soon as he poked his beard inside the front door. Nothing else would do, and the suite had to be let always subject to the possible arrival of "Bill" Bradly from Tomahawk.
Colonel Bradley's friendships with F. D. Underwood and Walter Collins are matters of tradition in the house. He thought well of
T. J. Gray, who was manager of the hostelry under Colonel West, and in fact had a host of friends whose work he had demonstrated by that curious quality of analysis that belongs to frontiersmen. He had become used to judging men in his lumbering and railroad operations. It is related to him that h seldom made a mistake in selecting either the foreman of a timber gang or the friend he invited to dinner.
PROBABLY A WILL
In case there is no will, of course, Mrs. Bradley will receive one-third of the estate, but it is believed among those who knew the old gentleman best that he has left everything in such shape that there can be no dispute over the great property. It is believed that when his will is probated bequests will be found to Mr. Underwood, Mr. Collins and others who were his close friends in Minneapolis. The remains of the millionaire will in all probability be interred in Milwaukee.
He married Susan Susanna (Devlin) on 23 Sep 1896 in Cherry Grove, Goodhue, MN. Two sons and a daughter were born to them; Vincent Joseph 'Vint' Bradley 1897–1976; Patrick John (John P) Bradley 1898–1944 and Genevieve Bradley
1900–1900. Mrs. Bradley died on 16 April 1905 in Goodhue County, MN.
He married Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, in 1903? She survives along with her son, whom Mr. Bradley adopted.
Star Tribune 09 Jan 1903, Fri · Page 4 ~ km
Bradley, Multi-Millionaire Lumberman Had Been Married But A Few Days
Bride's Honeymoon Was Spent in Constant Attendance Upon Hr Dying Husband
Milwaukee, Jan. 8. -- William H. Bradley, multi-millionaire lumberman, whose marriage to Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, on Monday, while he was ill in his chair, caused such a sensation, is dead. He passed away yesterday afternoon in the same chair he sat in during the marriage ceremony. His wife, and his adopted son, William T. Bradley, were present when he breathed his last.
Mr. Bradley had been in failing health for several years, cirrhosis of the liver having set in. About ten days ago he expressed a desire to wed his secretary, whom he had known for twenty years, and who had been closely associated with him in his business transactions.
Soon after the marriage, he began to fail, but he regained full command of his faculties and his mind was clear to the end.
He did not seem to realize that he was dying and chatted during the morning hours with his bride, who during her honeymoon, watched at his deathbed.
The funeral of Mr. Bradley will be held Friday at 2 p.m. from the family residence. At the request of Mr. Bradley, his body will be cremated at Forest Home Cemetery. This is the only dying request Mr. Bradley made.
OFTEN IN MINNEAPOLIS
Colonel "Bill" Bradley, or "Tomahawk" Bradley as he was called, was well known to lumbermen and railroad officials in Minneapolis. He was a director of the Soo Road and frequently came to the city. He was an intimate friend of F. D. Underwood when he was general manager of the Soo Road, of the late Colonel John T. West and others.
It was he who induced W. G. Collins of the Milwaukee Road to resign as general manager to go into the lumber business with him in Tomahawk.
Mr. Bradley was, with W.T. Watkins, the founder of the
Bradley-Watkins company whose offices are in the Lumber Exchange of which Mr. Collins is president, and he was at death a director in this company.
While somewhat eccentric, he was a man of many excellent qualities. He had his own peculiar ideas about many matters of a social, religious, and economic nature, and was independent, yet considerate, in asserting himself. The Colonel was a man of the rough-and-ready type, not caring for social display. He was kind-hearted and sympathetic to a marked degree.
It is told of him that when the trains on the Soo do not run to accommodate those who wished to visit Tomahawk, Mr. Bradly purchased a sleeper, placed it on his own road in charge of a porter, and when the train left Tomahawk over the Bradley line it carried this sleeper to the junction where it was sidetracked. The passengers who came off the Soo train, and who formerly had to wait during the early morning hours for the train from Tomahawk, were given sleeping quarters in the car at regular hotel rates. In the morning they are hauled to Tomahawk and become guests of Mr. Bradley's Hotel.
WHOLE TOWN HIS FRIENDS
A story illustrating some of Bradley's characteristics if of an incident when the Wisconsin editors were entertained by "Colonel" Bill with a trip to the woods n his houseboat flotilla hauled up the river by a tug. The day was finished with a banquet at the hotel. After this, the party set up late in the office telling stories. Finally, United States Marshall T. B. Reid said:
"Well, Bill, I am going to turn in. You call your friends together and I will stand treat, and then bid you goodnight."
Mr. Bradley stepped over to the corner of the office, turned in a fire alarm from the hotel, and in about five minutes the population of the city came rushing into the hotel, some no more than half dressed.
"There are my friends!" remarked Mr. Bradley.
Mr. Bradley did much for charity in a quiet way, and with his former wife, who died last November, was a liberal contributor to all movements toward relief of the poor. The Wisconsin Humane Society is an institution he liberally supported.
Bishop Grafton asked Mr. Bradley for aid in establishing an Episcopal Mission at Tomahawk. When told it would cost $10,000.
he said: "Well, by jingo, Tomahawk has got to have a mission." It was founded and so spread that Bradley thought he ought to have another at his second town a few miles away. "We called on the clergyman and said:
"D__n it, parson, we've got to put in a mission over there at Spirit Falls. "It will be an expensive thing. What is the necessity for it?"
"Well parson, they've got a saloon over there that is raising merry H__l and we got to do something to counteract its influence.
The Spirit Falls Mission was built and maintained by Mr. Bradley.
Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Mn. Thur., Jan.08, 1903, ~ km
====
WAS FAMILIAR CHARACTER
COL. WILLIAM BRADLEY, WHO DIED WEDNESDAY, WAS WELL-KNOWN HERE ~ THEY WILL MISS HIM
Col. "Bill" Bradley, whose death in Milwaukee, following so closely his marriage to Miss Marie Hannemeyer, has created a sensation all over the Northwest, where he was so well known, will be nowhere more missed than at the East Hotel in Minneapolis, where he was a periodical guest and a valued associate of nearly all the well-known men who make the house their headquarters.
Colonel Bradley at the time of his death is said by his friends here to have been worth at a rough estimate something like $12,000,000. Hundreds of people in Minneapolis who saw hi98jm very often thought he was a rough and ready lumber cruiser beating out $100 a month by hoofing it over the northern pine lands on behalf of local companies.
In fact, Colonel Bradley was a cruiser and one of the best who ever hit tall timber. Nothing delighted him better than to get out with one of his own men and "hike" over innumerable miles of virgin forest, sleeping in the woods and taking potluck with the man who had to do it for a living. Bradley was a giant in physique, broad of shoulder and massive limbed. He was the best physical demonstration of the North-Western Pioneer to be found.
ALREADY ACQUAINTED HERE
When Mr. Bradley first showed up at the West Hotel a good many years ago he was already known to many Minneapolis people, being a relative of the Morrisons and Washburns. The man who first tried to install Bradley in a room, who by the way, is still in the employ of the hotel, will never forget his experience.
The colonel had just come in from a long cruise. He was attired, as usual, in a cruising outfit, huge boots, a dark soft shirt, string necktie, soft felt hat, and Mackinaw coat. With him was one of his cruisers, similarly attired.
"I want the best in the house," remarked Colonel Bradley, "and I want it right quick--get action."
The clerk tried to convince his apparently rough customer that the very best rooms in the house were on the seventh floor in the rear, but that did not suit Bradley a little bit.
"Look here, young fellow, " he roared, "I'm going to get on the ground floor, and you'd better fix it suddenly."
COL. WEST APPEARED
Just at this juncture, Colonel John T. West appeared on the scene. He stared at Colonel Bradley for a moment, took in the herculean frame, the long gray locks, and the still grayer beard that hung to the colonel's belt, and then, so to speak, threw himself into the big fellow's arms.
In very characteristic language Colonel West demonstrated to the rath indignant Bradley that he was more glad to see him than he would have been to encounter the rajah of Mysore or any other splendid personage.
Somewhat mollified, Colonel Bradley consented to renew his acquaintance with Colonel West. He was promptly assigned to 128-30 on the parlor floor, and those are the best rooms in the house.
For all the rest of the time that Colonel Bradley spent under the West Hotel roof, he got those rooms as soon as he poked his beard inside the front door. Nothing else would do, and the suite had to be let always subject to the possible arrival of "Bill" Bradly from Tomahawk.
Colonel Bradley's friendships with F. D. Underwood and Walter Collins are matters of tradition in the house. He thought well of
T. J. Gray, who was manager of the hostelry under Colonel West, and in fact had a host of friends whose work he had demonstrated by that curious quality of analysis that belongs to frontiersmen. He had become used to judging men in his lumbering and railroad operations. It is related to him that h seldom made a mistake in selecting either the foreman of a timber gang or the friend he invited to dinner.
PROBABLY A WILL
In case there is no will, of course, Mrs. Bradley will receive one-third of the estate, but it is believed among those who knew the old gentleman best that he has left everything in such shape that there can be no dispute over the great property. It is believed that when his will is probated bequests will be found to Mr. Underwood, Mr. Collins and others who were his close friends in Minneapolis. The remains of the millionaire will in all probability be interred in Milwaukee.
He married Susan Susanna (Devlin) on 23 Sep 1896 in Cherry Grove, Goodhue, MN. Two sons and a daughter were born to them; Vincent Joseph 'Vint' Bradley 1897–1976; Patrick John (John P) Bradley 1898–1944 and Genevieve Bradley
1900–1900. Mrs. Bradley died on 16 April 1905 in Goodhue County, MN.
He married Miss Marie Hennemeyer, his secretary, in 1903? She survives along with her son, whom Mr. Bradley adopted.
Star Tribune 09 Jan 1903, Fri · Page 4 ~ km
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
