Bradley, William H.

Born: 1816-11-29 Connecticut

Died: 1892-03-01 Chicago, Illinois

Born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, William H. Bradley was a county agent, town alderman, and court clerk. In 1839, while serving as clerk of the County Commissioners Court for Jo Daviess County, Illinois, he was appointed county agent and placed in charge of paying all county bills related to the construction of its new courthouse. In May 1842, he married Sophronia S. Strong, with whom he had at least five children. In 1847, he became alderman of Galena, Illinois' second ward. Although he served less than a year, his prominence in the town rose after this position. In both 1848 and 1852, he was appointed clerk of the Jo Daviess County Circuit Court. His financial situation improved over these years, and between 1848 and 1853 he purchased hundreds of acres of land in Jo Daviess County. He was also one of the original incorporators of the Galena and Southern Wisconsin Railroad, which the Illinois General Assembly chartered in 1853. In 1855, he received appointment as clerk for the U.S. Circuit Court, Northern District of Illinois. By 1860, he was still serving in this position in Chicago, and owned $16,000 in real estate and another $5,000 in personal property.

The History of Jo Daviess County Illinois (Chicago: H. F. Kett, 1878), 336, 437, 492, 532; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Jo Daviess County, 10 May 1842, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; For an exhaustive list of Bradley's land purchases, search "Bradley William H," https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Galena, Jo Daviess County, IL, 268; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 27 March 1855, 3:1; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 9, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 50; U.S. Census Office, Tenth Census of the United States (1870), Ward 19, Chicago, Cook County, IL, 92; Gravestone, Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum, Chicago, IL.