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 1896 - 1985
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| Born |
24 Jan 1896 |
Dobbs Ferry, Westchester, New York, USA  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Died |
Feb 1985 |
Washington, Washington, Iowa, USA [1] |
| Notes |
- IOWA WOMEN?S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
BRADLEY FAMILY
PAPERS, 1811-1992
2 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The papers (donor no. 112) were donated by Virginia Shrauger Jones in 1987 and succeeding years.
ACCESS: Permission to quote from or publish from these papers must be obtained from the donor.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright has been retained by the donor.
PROCESSED BY: Natalie S. Brody, 1994 and succeeding years.
Biography
The Bradleys were a wealthy nineteenth century family who resided in the Hudson River Valley of New York, near New York City in Westchester county. David Ogden Bradley (1827-1895), a banker and New York state assemblyman, was born in Penn Yan, New York to Rhoda Ogden Bradley and Henry Bradley. As the president of the Tarrytown Bank, he became a man of considerable wealth, described as a "millionaire" in a local newspaper in 1894.
In 1865 he married Cornelia Fitch (1838-1893), the daughter of Llanah and Abijah Fitch of Auburn, New York. Bradley was then a widower with one child, a daughter, Lizzie.
In 1866 the Bradleys purchased a home in Dobbs Ferry and lived there for the remainder of their lives. The home, "Palivista," bought for $22,600, was located on a 30' bluff above the Hudson River with a frontage of 700' on the river. A newspaper advertisement described it as a "fine residence, containing six acres of good land; abundance of choice fruit, shrubbery and fine old forest trees. House all modern; gas and water throughout; carriage house and stable; over a mile of shaded walks; rustic summer houses, bridge, etc."
At "Palivista" the Bradleys raised their four children: Lue (1868-1922), Emma (1872-1971), and twin sons, Jerome (1875-1951) and Nelson (1875-?) The Bradleys maintained their home and grounds with the help of many servants. They travelled extensively in Europe, summered at various Atlantic seaside resorts, visited family frequently in upstate New York and Ohio, and led an active social life. The girls attended Miss Master's School in Dobbs Ferry. Lue Bradley was the school's first graduate. The boys attended preparatory school at Lawrenceville before entering Princeton University.
Emma Bradley married Joseph Middlebrook in 1893. They were later divorced. Their children were Cornelia (Tissy) (1899-1990), Joseph (Mouse) (1895-1976), Bradley (1894-1915) and Buddy (1898-1983).
In 1895 Lue Bradley married Dr. Henry Prentiss (1867-1931). The Prentisses moved to Iowa City, Iowa, in 1905 when Dr. Prentiss was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Anatomy at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa). He taught there until his death. Lue Bradley died in 1922, at the age of 53, after a long illness. She was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Their five children were Cornelia Shrauger (1896-1985), Lilian Schwarz (1897-1935), Lue Childs (1902-1968), Henry, Jr. (1898-1922), and Robert (1908-1972). Lue's twin brother, David, died at age three. (See the Prentiss Family Papers and Shrauger Family Papers, Iowa Women's Archives.)
Scope and Content Note
The Bradley Family papers measure 2 linear feet and date from 1811 to 1992. The papers are arranged in seven series: Genealogical information; Rhoda Ogden/Henry Bradley/Abijah Fitch correspondence, David O. Bradley/ Cornelia Fitch Bradley/Lue Bradley correspondence, Lue Bradley diaries, Account books, Emma Bradley Middlebrook family correspondence, and Photographs.
The Genealogical information series includes a family tree and various materials about the family including newspaper clippings, David Bradley's will (1873) and a plat of Dobbs Ferry identifying the Bradleys' property. A copy of an article, "Longfellow's Letters to Cornelia Fitch," by Sargeant Bush, Jr. (Books at Iowa, No. 6, April 1967) completes the series.
Papers of the Prentiss family and the Shrauger family, descendants of David and Cornelia Bradley, are also held by the Iowa Women's Archives. The three collections together include correspondence of seven generations.
A small amount of correspondence of David Bradley's parents from the early nineteenth century is included in the Rhoda Ogden/Henry Bradley/Abijah Fitch correspondence series (1811-1865). Photocopies of letters written between 1839 and 1865 from Abijah Fitch, Cornelia Fitch Bradley's father, to William Henry Seward, Secretary of State, 1861-1869, complete the series. The originals are in the University of Rochester (New York) library.
The bulk of the Bradley family papers is devoted to the David O. Bradley/Cornelia Bradley/Lue Bradley correspondence series (1864-1894) and to the Lue Bradley diaries (1879-1891).
The diaries (1879-1891 scattered) were written by Lue Bradley from the time she was eleven and continuing through the age of twenty-one. She writes in detail of the family, her schooling, recreation, health, travels and social activities.
The Account books series (1893-1905 scattered) includes one belonging to Cornelia Fitch Bradley recording her 1893 European trip and another kept by Lue Bradley during the first years of her marriage (1893-1905).
Many of the letters and diaries have been transcribed and typed by the donor, Virginia Shrauger Jones, granddaughter of Lue Bradley. Each transcription is filed with the original document.
The Emma Bradley Middlebrook family correspondence series (1927-1992 and undated, scattered) includes materials from Emma to her niece Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger; as well correspondence between Emma's daughter Cornelia (Tissy) Baekeland Hallowell, and Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger, Tissy's cousin; and the correspondence of Emma's grand-daughter, Cornelia (Dicki) Bagarotti with Virginia Shrauger Jones, Dicki's cousin.
Eight letters to Cornelia Fitch from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written prior to her marriage to David Bradley, are held by the Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries (MsL 853, Longfellow to Fitch).
A book, Savage Grace, by Natalie Robins and Steve Aronson (William Morrow, 1985) has been removed from the Bradley Family Papers and shelved with the printed works in the Iowa Women's Archives. The book concerns Tony Baekeland, the great-grandson of Emma Bradley Middlebrook. Baekeland, an heir to the Bakelite plastic fortune, murdered his mother Barbara Baekeland in 1972 and committed suicide in 1981.
Related collections
Prentiss Family papers
Iowa family descended from the Bradley family.
Shrauger Family papers
Iowa family descended from the Prentiss and Bradley families.
Cornelia Shrauger Day papers
Descended from The Prentiss and Bradley families.
Longfellow to Fitch letters, Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries (MsL 853)
Box no. Description
Box 1
Genealogical information
Rhoda Ogden/Henry Bradley/Abijah Fitch correspondence
1811-1823 (scattered)
1830-1833
Abijah Fitch to William H. Seward, 1839-1865 [photocopies]
David O. Bradley/Cornelia Fitch Bradley/Lue Bradley correspondence
1864-1865
1866
1867-1869
1870-1877
1878-1879
1880-1882
1883-1885
1886
1887
Box 2
1888
1889
1890
1891 (2 folders)
1892 (2 folders)
1893
1893-1894
Box 3
Undated, Cornelia Bradley to David Bradley
Undated, Cornelia Bradley to Lue Bradley (2 folders)
Undated, David Bradley to Cornelia Bradley
Undated, Lue Bradley to Cornelia and David Bradley
Lue Bradley diaries
1879 original and transcription
1882 original
1882 transcription
1885 original and transcription
1889 original
1889 transcription
1890 original
Box 4
1890 transcription
1891 original
1891 transcription
1895-1897 original
Account books
Cornelia Fitch Bradley European trip, 1893
Lue Bradley Prentiss household account, 1896-1898, 1900-1905
Emma Bradley Middlebrook family correspondence
Emma Middlebrook with Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger (niece)
(3 folders), 1960s
Box 5
Cornelia (Tissy) Middleton Baekeland Hallowell with Cornelia
Prentiss Shrauger (cousin), 1927-1989 and undated (scattered)
Cornelia (Dicki) Bagarotti with Virginia Shrauger Jones (cousin),
1987-1992
Miscellaneous, 1943-1988 and undated (scattered)
Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steve Aronson (William
Morrow, 1985) [Removed to printed works collection.]
Photographs
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| Person ID |
I1368 |
My Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
11 Jun 2012 |
| Father |
Henry James Prentiss, b. 1867, d. 1931 |
| Relationship |
Natural |
| Mother |
Lue Bradley, b. 1868, d. 1922, Iowa City, Allamakee, Iowa, USA |
| Relationship |
Natural |
| Married |
18 Apr 1895 |
Dobbs Ferry, Westchester, New York, USA |
| Family ID |
F579 |
Group Sheet |
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| Sources |
- [S673] Social Security Death Index, Ancestry.com, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2007;).
478-54-8338
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