USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the Genesee country (western New York) comprising the counties of Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates, Volume III > Part 89
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Mr. Bartlett also took an interest in the activities of the Vacuum Oil Company,
Frank L. Bartlett.
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Clark Brothers and other industries tending to their enlargement. He was a director of the old Olean Board of Trade and when it was succeeded by the Chamber of Commerce he was active in that organization. He was a member of the Olean flood abatement commission and his efforts aided greatly in bringing the miles of dyking in Olean to realization. He was a director of the Olean Housing Corporation and the Park Improvement Association. He was instrumental in the organization of the Cattaraugus-Allegany Bankers Association and served as its president from that time until about a year previous to his death, declining a further tenure of that office.
Two of what may be termed Mr. Bartlett's hobbies were the development of the Hamilton Country Club, which since his death has been changed to the Frank L. Bart- lett Country Club, and the Higgins Memorial Hospital. Through his untiring efforts he brought about the existence and maintenance of the club and aided in making the hospital one of the most modern. He was president of both organizations. He also took a deep interest in the Children's Home at Randolph, New York, and served as chairman of the endowment fund committee for a number of years. As a patriot during the World war Mr. Bartlett rendered splendid service as the director of the various Liberty Loan campaigns, in every one of which Cattaraugus county under his able leadership far exceeded its quota. In the campaign for the Red Cross and other war activities he threw himself heart and soul into the work and led every cam- paign to success.
In politics he was a democrat, although he was not a politician and never allowed his name to be presented for public office. He always made a study of the candidates, both state and national, also of the party platforms. At one time he was asked to become a candidate for the office of mayor of Olean, and although it seemed his elec- tion would be certain, he emphatically declined to enter the race. He was content to remain a private citizen, actuated only by a consuming desire to ameliorate the condition and make happier the people of his locality and to build the financial insti- tutions of which he was the head as a bulwark for the needs of the people, in which work he experienced great satisfaction. At the bank Mr. Bartlett was infallible. He arrived at the office early and as a rule stayed long after the institution closed. He was known as a man who quickly comprehended business propositions and analyzed almost by intuition any proposal that came to him either in the matter of finance or relating to general business. He loathed ostentatious publicity and as a result many of his benefactions were unknown except in some instances to his most intimate friends. Needless to say, many of these benefactions will continue unknown to the general public of Olean.
Mr. Bartlett was a trustee of Alfred University and in 1922 the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him in recognition of his great value to the community. Besides his membership in the Hamilton Country Club, he belonged to the City Club of Olean, the Bankers Club of New York and a number of clubs in other places. He was a Knights Templar Mason and a Noble of Ismailia Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Buffalo. He was also a member of Olean Lodge No. 471, I. O. O. F. Mr. Bartlett was a member of the congregation of the First Presbyterian church and con- tributed a large amount toward the erection of the new church edifice. He never lost interest in his boyhood home and the Bartlett Memorial Library at Belfast was built by him as a memorial to his parents.
On July 15, 1886, Mr. Bartlett was married to Miss Fannie E. England, daugh- ter of John England of Tidioute, Pennsylvania, and to them was born a daughter, Nancy. The family residence is at 302 Laurens street in Olean.
The Olean Evening Herald said editorially of Mr. Bartlett at the time of his death: "Frank L. Bartlett, Olean's most prominent citizen, passed away at an early hour this morning, following a surgical operation Tuesday for draining the gall blad- der. Not only Olean but the entire community is stunned by the sudden ending of the life of this splendid citizen stricken shortly before his sixty-fourth birthday. There are times when the editorial writer feels utterly impotent when attempting to ade- quately express that which he fain would say concerning an event or the influence that a good citizen has extended to others. In our humanity most of us are so lacking in a proper appreciation of the good that others may do, while we are ever ready to press for characteristics to criticize. But it is certain that the thousands of people who knew Mr. Bartlett at all, recognized in him a very wonderful personality and one which commanded admiration and respect. It could not be otherwise, for he was so intimately and deeply concerned in and affiliated with all important affairs of this city and community that his great wisdom, fine discernment, generous impulses and remarkable busines tact were felt everywhere.
"The life of Frank L. Bartlett was an open book. It was a remarkably busy one and yet with all his extensive interests and his close interest in public affairs, he had 49-Vol. ITT
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time to play and to devote to social amenities that caused men to seek his companion- ship. There is scarcely a worth-while institution or improvement in Olean but was either made possible or at least helped directly by Mr. Bartlett. He was lavish with his money if a project was for the uplift of the community and the bettering of living conditions of people, but he went much further than the mere drawing of checks, for he contributed generously of himself. It rarely happens that a man having exten- sive business interests requiring his personal attention and supervision will devote as much time to public matters as did Mr. Bartlett. Older citizens will remember his remarkable work at the time the Pennsylvania Railroad took over the old W. N. Y. & P. Railroad and how through his personal efforts Olean became a great gainer. And then when the city's flood abatement project was being put forward, his advice at meetings of the Olean Chamber of Commerce was highly prized. When the state authorized the work, Mr. Bartlett became one of the commissioners in charge of the work. The Olean General Hospital, of which Mr. Bartlett was president, has become one of Olean's finest institutions very largely through his activities. Likewise the Hamilton_Country Club, of which he was president, is known as one of the finest and best appointed country clubs in the state because of what Mr. Bartlett has per- sonally done for it. As head of the great financial institution, the Exchange Na- tional Bank, he exhibited most remarkable abilities and long since became known as a recognized leader in banking circles throughout western New York. His banking connections in New York, Chicago and in Europe have made him known everywhere.
"It cannot be gainsaid that Frank L. Bartlett rose from obscurity as a small farmer's son to a position of great wealth and prominence in the business and social world through sheer force of will and concentrating all of his energies on his work. He was handicapped early in life, just as hundreds and thousands of other boys were and are, by having only meagre school education, but his dynamic energies pushed him ahead and ultimately brought him the great successes he achieved. It is trite to refer to the loss this city and community sustains in the death of this fine, public- spirited citizen, for it is a comment on that which is universally known and recog- nized. Mr. Bartlett possessed rare vision, faith in himself, a world of optimism and a spirit that could not be shaken. These are attributes that invariably spell suc- cess. They will bring large success to any man who embraces them whole-heartedly. The good that he did will never be known, for his philanthropies were not advertised. Nevertheless it is certain that they were large and it is equally certain that hundreds can testify that he was a real friend in need. It is indeed a shallow mind that cannot grasp the truth that an irreparable loss has occurred to Olean through the taking away of Frank L. Bartlett and yet we know that 'his works will live after him.' "
The Olean Evening Times, in an editorial, said of Mr. Bartlett as follows: "Obituaries and eulogies are written with the usual expressions of appreciation that one expects to find in such tributes. But to one who has known Frank L. Bartlett for over a third of a century words are inadequate to express appreciation of the character and 'bigness' of the man. No monument need be erected to perpetuate his name. - His whole life's work, so abruptly ended, was that of a builder. No man has done more for the upbuilding of this city, in every way, than Mr. Bartlett; he was a pioneer, so to speak, of the newer Olean that we know today, and in his efforts for his city he built his own lasting monument. He was always ready, always willing to do his part. His was a strong character, firm and unyielding in the cause of right, but with a keen sense of feeling and charity for 'the other fellow', less ·strong or less fortunate. Philanthropist in a major degree, modest to the extreme, Mr. Bartlett always kept his generous acts 'like the light under the measure.' He was a 'big' man in every sense of the word as we use it today-a loyal and patriotic citizen, but best and greatest of all a true friend. While no doubt the many activities in which Mr. Bartlett was engaged at the time of his death will be continued by others, nevertheless his death has caused a void in our community life that will ever keep his memory fresh in the minds of those who knew him. His death is a distinct loss to Olean."
SAMUEL HENRY BRADLEY.
Samuel Henry Bradley, son of Samuel W. and Aditha D. (Barr) Bradley, was born on the 13th of August, 1843, in Olean, New York. The name Bradley-Saxon in origin-meaning broad lea, is mentioned in 1173. "The early settlers of the name in New England are staunch Dissenters and probably from a common ancestry in
MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL H. BRADLEY
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England." George (1), a proprietor of Windsor and Tolland, Connecticut, came, tradition says, from New Haven. George (1), Jabez (2), Jabez (3), Samuel (4), Samuel (5), all lived in Tolland. Samuel (4) was a graduate of Yale College, as were also his five brothers. From Jabez (3) were descended the Chautauqua county Brad- leys and Chauncey J. Fox of Ellicottville, who had a prominent part in the building of the Erie Railway. About 1823, Samuel (4), large of physique and of a deeply religious nature, removed to Springville, Erie county, New York, where he built its first woolen mill, comprising carding, spinning and cloth dressing. The company was composed of Samuel Bradley, John Russell and Silas Rushmore. The mill had two stories, and a basement which was used for coloring. Considerable time elapsed before the building was supplied with machinery and in this interval the upper story was used for school and church purposes. The first Sunday school was here organized by Mr. Bradley and Mr. Russell. Mr. Bradley greatly prized a relic of the Revolutionary war. It was a buckskin belt with buckle which was worn by La Fayette at the battle of Brandywine and was stained with his blood. One Sunday, when nearly all of the family was at church, the younger boys found the belt in a private drawer and converted it into a dog collar. The pieces of the belt were care- fully preserved. Other Revolutionary relics in the family were placed in safety in the Boston Museum. The Boston turnpike was built in 1798 and was but a few miles from Mr. Bradley's home in Tolland, Connecticut. La Fayette passed over this highway. Samuel (4) married Abigail Carpenter from William of Rehoboth, Mas- sachusetts, 1638. Samuel W. (5) located in Olean, married Aditha Barr, whose mother, Cynthia Pond, was of an English family from Connecticut. Her father, Henry Barr, a Scotchman, was probably born in Scotland. The first settlers were in Olean in 1806; Mr. Barr, a cabinetmaker, located in the hamlet before 1819. A photograph of his hand-carved mantel was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876 among the handicraft of the pioneers.
Samuel W. Bradley (5) arrived in Olean in 1833, being eighteen years of age. The leading man in the town was Judge Frederick Martin, who offered him the posi- tion of tending bar in his store. The young man said that he would rather saw wood. "Well then," replied the judge, "saw wood!" After sawing wood for two weeks, Bradley was given a position to his liking. At an early age he engaged in his permanent business, that of lumbering in the forests at the headwaters of the Alle- gany river. Judge D. H. Bolles, of Olean, included a sketch of his life in, "Cat- taraugus Lumberman of the Fifties," concluding with the following tribute: "Nature had endowed him with many of her richest gifts. He was a man of the warmest affections, of tremendous passion he had disciplined himself to a supreme self-control. His power of concentration was marvelous, his dominating sagacity and his ex- traordinary force of character were united with a heart true to every trust."
Samuel Henry Bradley (6) was lineally descended from four non-conformist English ministers who for freedom of conscience came to Massachusetts in 1634, viz .: John Lathrop, John Woodbridge, Thomas Parker and Samuel Whiting; the last was "own cousin to Oliver Cromwell." Other lineal forbears were Governor Thomas Dudley, Massachusetts, 1630; Richard Warren, 1620 (probably of the Mayflower) ; Philippe de la Noye, Huguenot, from France to Holland, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1621; Quakers, George Allen, Elizabeth Hood, and Thomas Farrar who was arrested as a witch in Lynn (for details see Fiske's "Salem Witchcraft"); George Weeks, Jacob Barney, Thomas Ruggles, Mary Curtis, George Fowle, Jeffrey Baker, Henry Rowley, William Palmer, Thomas Hatch, also from Braman, Bush, Hobert, Ansell, Walker and Dewsberry families, all of the early New England colonial period.
George (1) Bradley and Hannah Braman: George, Hannah, Mary, Jane, Jabez (2), Josiah, Jonah.
Jabez (2) and Hannah (Bush) King: Jabez (3), Hannah, Ruth, Susanna,
Betsey.
Jabez (3) and Hannah Lathrop: William, Samuel (4), Roswell, Chloe, David, Roxy, Roxy, Betsey, Jabez, Chester.
Samuel (4) and Abigail Carpenter : Rosina, Almena, Eliza, David, Ruggles and Samuel (5), Valentine.
Samuel (5) and Aditha Barr: Almena, Sylvia, Samuel H. (6), Augusta, Helen, Georgia. Samuel H. (6) and Kate E. Eaton: Samuel (7) died in infancy, Florence Aditha, Almena Katrine.
In the acquirement of an education Samuel Henry Bradley attended the Olean Academy, Brown's School at Otsego Lake and Phillips Exeter Academy of Exeter, New Hampshire. On the 5th of September, 1863, he was graduated from the Com-
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mercial College of Cincinnati. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he was employed in Olean as a clerk in the hardware store conducted by H. S. Morris. He was then a member of an independent company of Zouaves, and in the summer of 1861 he assisted in raising a company in the Fifth New York Cavalry. On the 1st of February, 1864, he enlisted in Company D of the Ninth New York Volunteer Cavalry for "three years of the war." He went to Elmira and then to Alexandria, Virginia, where the soldiers drew their horses and uniforms. After drilling they joined a regiment at Culpeper. In the spring of 1864, cavalry numbering about eight thousand was organized by General Grant into a cavalry corps and put in command of General Philip Sheridan. It was the first time that the cavalry had been a separate department of the army, and from this time it did effective service. The first great battle in which Mr. Bradley participated was the three days' Battle of the Wilderness. Afterward Sheridan's Corps started on the Richmond raid. The men passed around the left of Lee's army, destroying railroads, telegraphic communications, quantities of army stores, and at Beaver Dam recaptured four hundred Union prisoners. They kept on towards Richmond, fighting all the time, and finally worked their way into the outside fortifications of the Confederate capital. When this cavalry corps had gone entirely around Lee's army, it joined the main force of Grant's army. Mr. Bradley went into the battle of Cold Harbor on the 30th of May, 1864, and was wounded, after which he returned north and after receiving hospital treatment in Elmira, New York, went home on a twelve days' furlough. About the 1st of September he started for the front again, joining Torbett's division of cavalry soon after the battle of Winchester, which was fought on the 19th day of the same month. The double battle of Cedar Creek, during which occurred Sheridan's famous ride, was fought on the 19th of October. Corporal Bradley was promoted to the rank of quartermaster-sergeant. Shortly afterward he was acting-orderly with Lieutenant Sprague in command, and that brought him in charge of the company. In the spring of 1865 the cavalry corps started on the Gordonsville raid. At Waynesboro they routed Early's forces, captur- ing a large number of prisoners. They went forward toward Lynchburg, tearing up railroad tracks and destroying everything, fighting as they went. About two thousand negroes joined the column, and helped in destroying the canal and railroads. After repulsing the enemy, the troops crossed the North and South Annas and reached White House Landing, where they rested for a few days; then went to the James river and crossed on pontoons. They reported to Grant, with the Army of the Potomac, in front of Petersburg, after an absence of one month. Though his regiment was in active service during the remainder of the war, Mr. Bradley was sent to. Remount Camp at City Point. Hill was in command, and Mr. Bradley had charge of the stores of the division, and attended to the drawing and turning over of the horses to the different regiments. He was here at the time of Lee's surrender. After the Grand Review at Washington, he joined his regiment at Bladensburg. In May, 1865, he received a commission as first lieutenant of the Eighth Regiment of New York Volunteer Cavalry.
In 1867 Mr. Bradley was one of the executors of his father's estate. Up to this date he had been associated with him in the lumbering business, excepting during the time of his military service in the Civil war. As contractors for Bigler & Company, lumbermen of Newburgh, New York, Samuel H. Bradley and Fred T. Powell spent. two years in Louisiana and Texas getting out live oak timber for the navy yards. Returning north, Mr. Bradley began drilling for petroleum with Messrs. Powell, H. M. Ernst, Peter T. Kennedy and William C. Kennedy, all loyal friends as the years passed. The producing of oil became his permanent business; he was active in nearly every field of importance from New York to Texas. The beginning of the Standard Oil monopoly was seen and its significance realized by him. He had many warm per- sonal friends among Standard Oil people, but always identified himself with the strug- gling independent refiners.
In 1877 Mr. Bradley married Kate E. Eaton of Olean. Their children were Sam- uel, Florence and Almena.
After two terms as supervisor, he was sent to the state legislature as member of assembly in 1881. He secured important legislation. Throughout the state, property worth millions of dollars had been exempted from taxation, thus throwing an undue burden upon other property. By his efforts laws were passed which relieved farmers, mechanics and real estate owners from an unjust proportion of taxation. The rail- road commission bill had long been kept buried in committee by the influence of cor- porations. After repeated conferences with the committee, he succeeded almost single- handed in resurrecting the bill. It was brought before the assembly and largely by his efforts this much needed reform became the law of the state. Thus was removed
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unfair discrimination in railroad rates against the producing classes. Shameless brib- ery was prevalent at the capital. Mr. Bradley's exposure of corrupt practice at Albany was one of the first shots fired during that generation in the battle against bribery and graft in our body politic. There had been a bribery case in New Jersey and one in Ohio, but those criminals who had offered bribes and those who had pocketed them-one and all-had escaped punishment. Mrs. Bradley was with her husband all winter at the state capital. He often remarked: "The people are deceived. They do " not know that money is being freely used to influence legislation. These corrupt lob- byists say: 'Oh, yes, this bill can be passed,' and then proceed to name the necessary amount of money." Mr. Bradley said it was most distressing to see honest but impecunious legislators come to Albany and prove unable to resist the powerful temp- tation to become independently rich. The railroads desired the election of their at- torney, Chauncey M. Depew, to the United States senate. Several attempts to buy Mr. Bradley's vote made him resolve that the public should know the conditions at Albany. That evening the state senator from his own district, Loren B. Sessions, offered him two thousand dollars to vote for Depew with an additional thousand dol- lars if he were elected, saying: "I have it for you in my vest pocket." Mr. Bradley led the way to his hotel room. As the senator locked the door and counted out the money, he remarked: "This is away down deep in the well." Mr. Bradley took the money, went immediately to the residence of George H. Sharpe, the speaker of the assembly, and placed it in his hands. The next morning, June 9, 1881, Mr. Bradley rose in the assembly, stated that an attempt had been made to buy his vote, and asked for an investigation. Mr. Bradley appeared before the committee without counsel; before Mr. Sessions had been mentioned as the briber, he had secured the services of two of the keenest criminal lawyers to defend him at the investigation. The senator was indicted, but the trial was a farce, and acquittal followed. All of the influential republican newspapers used their great power to discredit Mr. Bradley's statements and heaped abuse upon him. The New York Tribune for two years had had the name of Sessions on its black list of venal politicians, yet that paper changed front and became one of the stanchest advocates of his innocence of the charge of bribery. At that time there were few independent papers and magazines. However, the old and conservative "Journal of Commerce" said "the acquittal was a miscarriage of justice. Without question Sessions handed Bradley two thousand dollars to influence his vote. If this is not bribery we do not see how the charge can be substantiated against the offense in any form. Mr. Bradley's evident honesty and sincerity should secure the respect of all honorable men." Cheering words came from "New York Truth," edited by Louis F. Post: "If other legislators would follow the method of Mr. Bradley, the state capitals would be freed from the poisonous presence of professional lobbyists." New York Justice said: "The act of Bradley was as pure an act of patriotism as that of Williams, Paulding and Van Wert, who refused the gold of the spy Andre." The Olean Times said on June 9, 1881: "Our Incorruptible Member! All honor to Samuel H. Bradley! He took the money that he might have evidence against the bribe giver. There is no price at which S. H. Bradley can be bought. He is incapable of double dealing. His success in matters of legislation has been something remarkable in the history of the assembly. He is honored and respected by his associates." The Cat- taraugus Republican and others newspapers in Mr. Bradley's home county were in accord with the sentiment expressed by the Randolph Register of October 25, 1883: "The acquittal of Ex-Senator Sessions was a foregone conclusion. This clears Mr. Sessions in the eyes of the law, but the people-the grandest tribunal in the world -believe just as they always have." One of many telegrams received by Mr. Bradley read as follows: "Our citizens unanimously congratulate you upon your noble at- tempt to put to shame corrupt monopolists, and to prove that honor is still above price. We are proud to call you neighbor." Signed, Frank S. Smith, L. F. Lawton and others. Mr. Smith and his wife, Clara Higgins Smith, had been in Albany that winter; they understood the conditions in the legislature, they also knew Mr. Bradley, and they lost no opportunity of endorsing his statements. Mrs. Smith was the sister of F. W. Higgins, afterward governor of New York state. By act of the legislature in session three years later, the two thousand dollars, with three hundred dollars interest, were given to the Albany City Hospital. During his term as governor of the state, F. W. Higgins appointed Mr. Bradley for one year to fill a vacancy as county treasurer of Cattaraugus county.
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