USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and biographical records of American families, representative citizens: New Hampshire > Part 2
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THOMAS BRADLEY, son of Henry and Barbara (Lane) Bradley, was born in 1598. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford. He received his B. A. degree in 1620 and his D. D. in 1642. He was rector of Castleford in 1630 and of Ackworth in 1643, and served as chaplain to Charles I. He married Frances Savile, a daughter of Lord Savile of Pomfret.
BRADLEY
THOMAS BRADLEY of Louth, Lincolnshire, son of Thomas, was born in 1503. He was a merchant of Louth. He married Alice Etton.
JOHN BRADLEY, son of Thomas and Alice (Etton) Bradley, was also of Louth and died in 1590. He mar- ried Frances Fairfax.
JOHN BRADLEY, son of John and Frances (Fairfax) Bradley, graduated from Cambridge and was a prominent physician. He married Anne Free- man. His brother Thomas Bradley was also of Louth and married Ann Chapman.
BRADLEY
THE FAMILY IN AMERICA
There are, in the United States, many families of the name of Bradley, whose ancestors came from England.
WILLIAM BRADLEY, the progenitor of the line hereinafter under consideration, was born in Bingley about 1620, and record of him is found in the "History of Bingley, England", which states that he was a Major in the Parliamentary army. He settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where he acquired large tracts of land, and is recorded as the first land owner of that place. He married, February 18, 1645, in New Haven, Alice Pritchard, daughter of Roger Pritchard, of Springfield, Massachusetts. He died in New Haven in 1690.
ABRAHAM BRADLEY, son of William and Alice (Pritchard) Bradley, was baptized October 24, 1650, and died October 19, 1718, in New Haven, Connect- icut. He was a prominent member of the com- munity, a deacon in the first (now Center) Church in New Haven, and a Justice of the Peace. His will
BRADLEY
was dated December 5, 1716, and proved in the New Haven Probate Court, November 18, 1718. It con- tained the following clause: "As a token of my love to ye first church of Christ in New Haven I give my silver cup, or the value of it, to be improved at ye Lord's table: yt is after my decease." He married, December 25, 1673, Hannah Thompson, born Sep- tember 22, 1654, and died in New Haven, October 26, 1718.
JOHN BRADLEY, son of Deacon Abraham and Hannah (Thompson) Bradley, was born October 12, 1674, in New Haven, Connecticut. He married, September 22, 1698, Sarah Holt, daughter of Ebenezer Holt.
ENOS BRADLEY, son of John and Sarah (Holt) Bradley, was born December 28, 1701, in New Haven, Connecticut. He married, December 2, 1721, Ellen Skidmore.
ARIEL BRADLEY, son of Enos and Ellen (Skid- more) Bradley, was born March 8, 1729, in New Haven, Connecticut. He removed to New York
BRADLEY
State. He married, November 7, 1751, Amy Thompson.
CAPTAIN JAMES BRADLEY, son of Ariel and Amy (Thompson) Bradley, was born June 17, 1756, and died at Johnson, Ohio, March 3, 1818. He removed to Ohio from Salisbury, Connecticut, about 1802. The family stopped at Canfield, Johnston Township, for a short time, finally locating in the western part of the township. James Bradley married Asenath Bird.
MOORE BIRD BRADLEY, son of Captain James and Asenath (Bird) Bradley, was born May 26, 1790, and died February 16, 1841. He helped his father on the farm in his early youth, and later he studied medicine under Dr. Peter Allan. He practiced in Mansfield, Ohio, later removing to Waterford, Erie County, Pennsylvania, where he became one of the leaders in his profession. He was one of the organ- izers of the first Protestant Episcopal Church, of Waterford, Pennsylvania, in 1827, and was one of its first officers.
Dr. Moore Bird Bradley married (1) Reumah
BRADLEY
Crosby, December 8, 1817. She was born December 30, 1792, and died July 23, 1831.
They had the following children: (1) Myron Holly, born December 16, 1818, died September 5, 1822. (2) Olivia Cordelia Chittenden, born Sep- tember 1, 1820, died October 31, 1821. (3) Olivia Cordelia Chittenden, 2nd, born July 22, 1822, died March 12, 1823. (4) Asenath Crosby, of whom further. (5) Erasmus Darwin, born January 19, 1828. (6) Ariel Bird, born 1831.
Dr. Moore Bird Bradley married (2) May 23, 1839, Phebe Vincent, daughter of Bethuel and Mar- tha (Himrod) Vincent. They had a son, Moore Bird Bradley, 2nd, who was born September 4, 1840, and died March 12, 1842.
The following is an extract from the will of Dr. Bradley taken from Will Book A-0.233:
Dr. M. B. Bradley; will, dated January 26, 1841; registered March 3, 1841:
"I, Dr. Moore Bird Bradley, of twp, of Water- ford, * names wife PHEBE; and 'My
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Asenath C. Banning
BRADLEY
three children now living with me', ... .. to remain together until youngest becomes of age, son, Moore Bird Bradley; wife to be his guardian until of age, Samuel Hutchins to be guardian of daughter Asenath, and son Darwin; Extrs., brother Thaddeus Bradley, Bethuel B. Vincent, and wife Phebe: Wit: Daniel Vincent, David Shirk."
ASENATH CROSBY BRADLEY, daughter of Dr. Moore Bird and Reumah (Crosby) Bradley, was born June 16, 1824, at Waterford, Pennsylvania: and died November 13, 1909, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She mar- ried David Banning, April 28, 1847, in Erie, Pennsyl- vania.
Corliss
Arms: Argent, on a bend sable three cinquefoils pierced or.
(Burke: "General Armory")
CORLISS
HE names of Corliss, Careless and Carlesse, according to Bardsley, were originally nicknames meaning "the careless", "free from anxiety and sorrow", "merry and jolly". Record is found of Willelmus Careles as early as 1379 and of Anthony Careless in 1570, in the Poll Tax of York. It is also recorded that William Care- less, Carles, or Carlos, a colonel or major in the Royal- ist Army during the Civil Wars, was instrumental in preserving the life of Charles II after the battle of Worcester.
GEORGE CORLISS, progenitor of the family in America, was the son of Thomas Corliss. He was born in Devonshire, England, at or near Exeter, in 1617, and died in Haverhill, Massachusetts, October 19, 1686. He came to New England in 1639, and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. In 1640, he re- moved to Haverhill and settled in the west parish of the town, where he purchased a tract of land of three square miles from the aborigines. He at first built a log cabin and later a large home which he named
POPLAR LAWN, HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS. BUILT BY GEORGE CORLISS ABOUT 1640
CORLISS
"Poplar Lawn" because of the Lombardy poplars set out on each side of the long lane leading to the house. "Poplar Lawn" became the permanent home of the Corliss family for several generations and quoting from "Historic Sites and Scenes of Haverhill Pre- sented During the Tercentenary Year" the house as well as its interior was "the wonder of the period". The large room is described as follows: "The wall paper cost $2 a roll; wall paper was then a novelty; this paper had a border of flowers; there was a deep wainscoting all around the room; every 18 or 20 inches fluted columns were introduced into this wain- scoting; between these columns the wall was painted blue. The floor was painted to represent tiles, buff and blue, alternating. A border of flowers all around the floor was the finishing feature."
George Corliss was made a freeman in 1645. He was constable in 1650 and selectman in 1648, 1652, 1657, 1669 and 1679. His immense farm was divided among his eight children, seven daughters and one son. His marriage to Joanna Davis, October 26,
CORLISS
1645, was the second marriage registered in the town.
JOHN CORLISS, son of George and Joanna (Davis) Corliss, was born March 4, 1648, in Haverhill, where he died February 17, 1698. His name appears on the list of soldiers paid by the town August 24, 1676, and also on the record as having taken the oath of allegiance at Haverhill, November 28, 1677. He lived on the ancestral farm all his life and married December 17, 1684, Mary Wilford.
JOHN CORLISS, son of John and Mary (Wilford) Corliss, was born in Haverhill, March 4, 1686, and died in 1766. He resided at the old homestead which his grandson inherited, his son having died before 1766. He provided liberally for his children and gave them a good education. John Corliss married in 1711, Ruth Haynes, who was born February 10, 1691, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah (Moulton) Haynes.
JOHN CORLISS, son of John and Ruth (Haynes) Corliss, was born on the Corliss farm in Haverhill, September 12, 1715, and died there November 15,
CORLISS
1753. He married (first) November 30, 1737, Abigail Mitchell. He married (second) September 13, 1753, Abiah Whittier. His widow, with Abiah and Joseph Haynes, settled his estate in June, 1754.
CAPTAIN JOHN CORLISS, son of John and Abigail (Mitchell) Corliss, was born in Haverhill, May 8, 1747, and died in Easton, New York, May 27, 1822. Captain Corliss, as he was known, lived in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and later in Haverhill, New Hamp- shire, until about 1790 or 1793, when he moved to Easton. He served with distinction during the Revo- lutionary War in Colonel Nathaniel Wade's regiment. The depreciation in the currency after the Revolu- tionary War made a great change in his fortune and he sustained another severe loss after the War of 1812, but as he and his sons were extremely energetic and enterprising, they soon retrieved their fortunes. He is said to have been an unusually skillful horse- man.
Captain John Corliss married Lydia Haynes, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Clement) Haynes
CORLISS
of Haverhill, Massachusetts. She was born in Haver- hill, January 3, 1750, and died in Easton, New York, July 8, 1823.
Steel Engraving by Finlay & Conn
Dr. Miriam Corliss
CORLISS
R. HIRAM CORLISS, son of John and Lydia (Haynes) Corliss, was born in Easton, New York, October 21, 1793, and died in Greenwich, New York, Sep- tember 7, 1877. He was educated in the district schools of his native town. At the age of six- teen he was competent to teach and was so engaged until 1812, when he began to study medicine under Drs. Nathan Thompson and Jonathan Mosher. He subsequently entered the New York Hospital and in February, 1816, received a certificate, equivalent in those days to a diploma. The certificate reads:
"We, the physicians and surgeons of the New York Hospital, do certify that Hiram Corliss hath attended the practice of physic and surgery in this hospital during the winter of 1815-16, in testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names, this 24th day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen.
Physicians. Surgeons.
SAMUEL MITCHELL,
WRIGHT POST,
WM. HAMERSLEY,
RICHARD S. THISSAN,
SAMUEL C. BORROWS,
JAMES S. STUIGHAM, JAMES C. OSBORN,
VALENTINE SEAMAN."
CORLISS
In the spring of 1816, Dr. Corliss began to prac- tice in Easton, and in 1824, he removed to Green- wich, then known as Whipple City. Here he estab- lished his office on June 1, 1824, and continuously kept it open until the day of his death. Dr. Corliss was the oldest medical practitioner in the State of New York and his reputation as a physician and sur- geon was known far and wide. In 1826, ten years after his graduation, he undertook a bold surgical operation, as yet untried in this country, though it had been successfully performed in London by Sir Astley Cooper. He consulted with leading physi- cians in New York City, who advised against it and endeavored to dissuade him, but Dr. Corliss resolved to make the attempt. He personally superintended the construction of the instruments, and successfully performed the operation. The love of surgery abided with him until the last and at the age of eighty, he performed the operation of Lithotomy, the patient being 73 years of age. In 1847, upon recommendation of the State Medical Society, Dr. Corliss received from the Regents of the University of New York, the hon- orary degree of M. D. and in 1850 was elected to
CORLISS
membership in the State Medical Society. He took an active interest in the proceedings of the society and was frequently a delegate to National Medical Con- ventions. He was one of the founders of the County Medical Society. In 1825, Governor De Witt Clinton appointed Dr. Corliss surgeon of the Twenty-Second Regiment of Artillery of New York with rank from August 30, 1825.
The following is quoted from the obituary notices in the "Troy Times":
"Dr. Hiram Corliss died at his residence Friday, September 7, in his 84th year. Certainly no man of this place, and few anywhere else, possessed more of the element known as public spirit, and none exercised it with less selfishness. Dr. Corliss began his professional service in this community more than 50 years ago. Previous to that he graduated at the New York college of physicians and surgeons, and at first opened an office in Easton, where he remained six years, when he removed to this place, then known as Whipple City. At different times he has been personally associated with prominent members
CORLISS
of the profession among others, Dr. Cornelius Holmes, whose death, occurred in February, 1865. As a physician, Dr. Corliss was eminently successful. Possessed of strong mental faculties, an excellent constitution, a will characteristic- ally firm and an intuition severely disciplined by the closest study and reflection, he was calcu- lated to succeed where his associates too often failed. His mind was of the purely logical order, and his perceptions were quick and clear, and, as was to be expected, his judgment strong and reliable. To carefulness and studious observance of his cases, he united prompt and decided action. He was for many years a member of the state medical society, and was frequently its repre- sentative at the meetings of similar societies in other states. In political doctrines during and previous to the war, he was an ultra abolitionist, belonging, I may say, to the Garrison school. Although he never lost sight of his professional duties, and never went outside the affairs of his own county to engage in political discussion, his mind was ever exercised for the dissemination of those principles which promote justice and equity among men. Of the different members of his family I shall not speak further than to say
CORLISS
they are all occupying positions of usefulness, and some of them, indeed, have by industry elevated themselves to the dignity of millionaires. Dr. Corliss was a Congregationalist, and during the last few years the membership of the church to which he belonged having become so reduced that those remaining considered themselves un- able to support a pastor, he presided over their meetings in a manner acceptable to all concerned. Socially, influenced largely by habit, Dr. Corliss was a trifle reticent, yet with his intimate asso- ciates he would frequently unbend, and when in animated converse was a delightful companion. In truth he was a man of enlarged understand- ing, and although sometimes seemingly imperi- ous, he possessed noble impulses, a warm heart and untarnished honor. We have left us only this gratifying reflection, that after an active and honored life, he has passed from its scenes in the full Christian hope of a glorious immortality."
"A strong will and a persevering spirit were the prominent features in his character. His presence was commanding, figure erect and tall, large forehead, a penetrating eye with a deep
CORLISS
and powerful voice. He had a great fund of anecdote and humor, was an enthusiast in his profession and full of enterprise. Independent and courageous in thought and in action, he be- came a leader, and impressed friend and enemy with his unconquerable will. Dr. Corliss was public spirited, even beyond the means at his command. An avenue on the east of our village bearing his name, was opened by him. His last project, a marble block remains unfinished, the foundation only having been completed. Many years ago a successful movement by the temper- ance party, headed by himself, closed the taverns, and the proprietors thought to annoy him by sending the pedlars to his house for entertain- ment, but the doctor gave them at his own table and in his own home the entertainment they de- manded. The fugitive slave sought him for shelter and directions as they hurried to free Canada. The social event of the year in our little village was the opening of his hospitable home at each anniversary of his birthday, when all his children were summoned to rejoice with him and to renew their acquaintance with the friends of his childhood and to be introduced to the strangers who had come to dwell in their native
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Susan (Sheldon ) Corliss
CORLISS
town. The children have never been permitted to lose interest in the place of their birth, or the friends of their father. We shall all miss these annual reunions as we shall the genial smile and the cordial friendship of one so intimately identi- fied with the prosperity and growth of our village as was he. Bold and commanding among men, in Christian worship he became humble and reverent. His departure severs almost the last link which binds us to the past generation. Not a faultless man, but one whose influence and whose example ought to be a rich legacy to the county in which he lived and died, and the profession of which he was so honored a member."
Dr. Hiram Corliss married (first) April 6, 1814, Susan Sheldon. (See Sheldon Line). He married (second) March 11, 1848, Almy Howland Sampson, who was born in 1804, in New Bedford, Massachu- setts, and died June 5, 1858. He married (third), May 14, 1861, Maria Cowan, who was born August 12, 1811, in Leicester, Vermont, and died in Green- wich in 1879.
Children of Dr. Hiram and Susan (Sheldon) Cor- liss:
CORLISS
(I) Mary Folger, born July 29, 1815, in Easton, New York, and died May 29, 1855, in Green- wich, (Union Village) New York. She mar- ried, June 16, 1840, Courtland Cunningham Cook, son of Titus A. and Martha (Cunning- ham) Cook of Greenwich, New York. They were the parents of the following children:
(1) Frederick Augustus, born April 23, 1841, in Greenwich, New York, and died March 20, 1865, in Providence, Rhode Island. Unmarried.
(2) Albert Moses, born January 30, 1843, in Greenwich, New York, and died Febru- ary 23, 1872. Unmarried.
(3) Susan Frances, born June 29, 1849, in Greenwich, New York, and died Novem- ber 13, 1927, in Cambridge, Massachu- setts. She married, June 6, 1877, in Providence, Rhode Island, Charles Rhodes Earle, son of George B. and Cornelia A. (Rhodes) Earle of Providence, and they are the parents of the following children:
(i) Courtland Cook, born March 27, 1878, in Providence, and married,
CORLISS
December 13, 1922, in Boston, Massachusetts, Mrs. Emily Loring (Brooks) Lawrence, daughter of Hiram Loring and Emily (Rob- bins) Brooks.
(ii) Mortimer Rhodes, born June 28, 1881, in Providence, and died February 2, 1915, in Boston. Un- married.
(iii) Cornelia Arnold, born April 12, 1880, in Providence.
(II) George Henry of whom further.
(III) Elizabeth Sheldon, born July 23, 1819, in Easton, New York, and died there May 25, 1820.
(IV) Albert Hiram, of whom further.
(V) Charles, of whom further.
(VI) Elizabeth Sheldon, born April 7, 1829, in Greenwich, New York, and died August 19, 1905, in Binghamton, New York. She mar- ried in Greenwich January 27, 1847, Sabin Mckinney who was born March 17, 1816, in Binghamton where he died July 10, 1896.
CORLISS
(VII) Sarah Sheldon, born September 25, 1831, in Greenwich and died December 2, 1846.
(VIII) William, of whom further.
(IX) Susan Frances, born August 12, 1839, in Greenwich, New York, and died September 9, 1840.
..
Steel Engraving by Friday & Conn
Geo N. Corliss.
CORLISS
EORGE HENRY CORLISS, son of Dr. Hiram and Susan (Sheldon) Corliss, was born in Easton, New York, June 2, 1817, and died in Providence, Rhode Island, February 21, 1888. He received his early edu- cation in the village schools and at the age of fourteen found employment in a general store in Greenwich, where he remained three years and then entered the Academy at Castleton, Vermont, in 1834, where he completed the four-year course. He was an exceptionally intelligent student, but showed no remarkable ability in mechanics, the field in which he was destined to excel. Having completed the course at the Academy he returned to Greenwich and in 1838 opened a general store, an enterprise in which he met with considerable success and in which he continued until 1841. During these years his ideas had been formed and, though he had never seen the inside of a machine shop, he was constantly ex- perimenting with mechanical contrivances and found himself almost automatically solving mathematical and mechanical problems. He disposed of his store and resolved to devote his energy and time to inven-
CORLISS
tions, the work which constantly dominated his thoughts and which so obviously was his calling.
In 1844, he had perfected his invention of a sew- ing machine for sewing boots, shoes and heavy leather, and although the machine was original and practical, he met with defeat, as do so many young inventors, because of lack of sufficient funds. How- ever, his courage did not fail him and in the same year he moved to Providence, Rhode Island, then, as now, an important manufacturing center. Provi- dence seemed the logical place in which to seek an opportunity to develop his sewing machine and to in- terest capital. He secured a position as draftsman and designer with the firm Fairbanks, Bancroft and Company and, while thus employed, he became in- tensely interested in and impressed with the need for improvement of the steam engine, a subject which had occupied his thoughts for a long time. He became associated with John Barstow and E. J. Nightingale with whom he formed a partnership under the name of Corliss, Nightingale, and Company and for the next four years Mr. Corliss was unceasingly at work
CORLISS
on his invention until 1848, when he completed the construction of an engine which, save for a few minor improvements, is essentially the Corliss engine of today.
Mr. Corliss and his partners now formed the Cor- liss Steam Engine Company and early in 1849 had erected a plant sufficiently advanced for the produc- tion of the new engine, the patents for which had been granted by the Government. The engine was now placed on the market and at once occupied the first place in the engineering field. The Corliss Steam Engine Company was incorporated in 1856 with Mr. Corliss as president. At the time of the founder's death, in 1888, the plant was of enormous proportions, occupying floor space of more than five acres and employing over a thousand hands. This statement fails to convey to the mind the magnitude of the plant because of the efficiency of the many labor-saving appliances, nearly all of which were de- vised by Mr. Corliss.
During the Civil War, the Corliss Steam Engine Company supplied the United States Government
Steel Engraving by Finlay & Conn
GEORGE H. CORLISS BUST BY FRANKLIN SIMMONS
CORLISS
with machinery and was decidedly instrumental in the building of the "Monitor". While this vessel was under construction, it was found that the Govern- ment shops were not equipped for "turning up" the huge ring upon which the turret of the "Monitor" was designed to revolve, and the Corliss Steam Engine
Company being one of the few plants with equip- ment sufficiently large was awarded this contract. Mr. Corliss ordered all other work put aside and kept his plant running day and night in order to complete the important ring on time, thus enabling the "Moni- tor" to engage in the famous naval battle.
At the World's Exposition held at Paris, France, in 1867, Mr. Corliss won the first prize in a competi- tion of one hundred of the most famous engine build- ers in the world. Commissioner J. Scott Russell, designer and builder of the huge steamship "Great Eastern", and who afterwards laid the Atlantic cable, was the representative of the British Government at the exposition. Speaking in his report to his Govern- ment of the valve gear of the Corliss engine, Mr. Russell said:
COUNT
ARTS AND SCIENCES
RIAIFORD.
OR HAAR
BORN
PERL DE VECINIVEL
CORLISS
1878
EMPEREUR
ONAL
AWARDED BY
UNITED STATES
CENTENNIAL
COMMISSION
CC
REPRODUCTIONS OF TEN MEDALS AWARDED GEORGE H. CORLISS.
CORLISS
"A mechanism as beautiful as the human hand. It releases or retains its grasp on the feeding valve, and gives a greater or less dose of steam in nice proportion to each varying want. The American engine of Corliss everywhere tells of wise forethought, judicious proportions and exe- cution and exquisite contrivance.
This was Mr. Corliss's first great international triumph and marks the time when his achievement began to be recognized as one of the foremost inven- tions of the age.
On January 11, 1870, just one hundred years after Watt had received the patent for his steam engine, Mr. Corliss was awarded the Rumford medal. Dr. Asa Gray, president of the academy, in awarding the medal, stated that the founder of the trust re- quired that the invention should be:
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