Amon Bradley
Amon Bradley, the son of Ichabod and Abigail (Moore) Bradley, was born February 20, 1812 in Southington, Connecticut. He spent his early years on the family farm and was educated in district schools. At the age of 19, his schooling finished, Amon took the first step in his long and successful business career, traveling to the South as a “Yankee Pedlar,” selling various dry goods and notions. Two years later, in 1833, he returned to Southington and opened a dry goods and general merchandise store known as Amon Bradley and Company. After the acquisition of a partner, Merit N. Woodruff, a former store clerk, the business was renamed Bradley and Woodruff. It continued as such until the partnership was dissolved in 1865, and the store was once again known as Amon Bradley and Company.
In 1836, Amon married Sylvia Barnes of Southington, the daughter of Truman and Lowly (Barret) Barnes. The couple moved into the house which Amon had built at 85 North Main Street and began to raise a family. Their three children were Franklin B. Bradley (1857-1917), Alice (Bradley) Barnes (1849-1897), and Emma (Bradley) Yeomans Newell (1857-1917).
Throughout his long life, Amon Bradley was active in civic, business, and political affairs. He was a member of the first Southington Fire Department organized in 1834. During the 1840s, he served a term as sheriff. When Lewis Academy was erected, 1846-1848, he was a member of the building committee. He was instrumental in securing a charter for the Southington Savings Bank, serving on that institution’s first board of directors. When the Southington Cutlery Company was incorporated in 1867, Amon was named its first president. He was the town postmaster from 1851-1863 and a Democratic representative to the state legislature in 1863, 1864, and 1866. For a number of years, Amon was the town’s oldest Freemason, having joined Friendship Lodge, No. 31, F. and A.M., about 1850.
A good illustration of Amon’s character stems from an incident that occurred while he served as sheriff. That he was the right man for the job was evidenced when he became involved with an interesting murder case concerning a father who murdered his son. For many years, an Indian named Jack Bagdin had lived with his family in a lean-to fashioned of logs and boards covered with leaves and moss built against the side of a huge boulder in the Flanders district. They eked out a meager existence hunting for food and making crude baskets to sell to local farmers. One day, Jack and his son, John, had a quarrel. John apparently decided to settle the matter by killing his father for he went to see Mr. Lewis Goodsell shortly thereafter and asked Mr. Goodsell to give him an old flintlock musket that stood in the corner of the room. Mr. Goodsell was not about to give the gun away, however; he told John that he could have it for one dollar. Two days later, John returned with the necessary amount, and the weapon was his. Later that night, father and son again became embroiled in a fight. It ended not with a gunshot and the father’s death but with Jack choking his son to death. Word of the crime soon spread, and Sheriff Bradley went to the rock and arrested Jack Bagdin on a murder charge. The justice was then summoned, the court was assembled, witnesses were sworn, and the case was literally tried on the spot with most of the countryside in attendance. Adding a macabre note to the proceedings was the presence of john’s lifeless, naked body, the marks of his father’s hands plainly visible on his throat, lying in the shadow of the rock which had been his home. When the hearing was over, Jack was bound over to the superior court of Hartford to be tried for murder. Sheriff Bradley ordered Jack into his wagon for transport to jail. The Indian refused and looked menacingly at the Sheriff, whereupon Sheriff Bradley produced a large pistol, cocked it, put it against the Indian’s chest, and once more told him to get into the wagon. Realizing that the Sheriff meant business, the Indian complied. He was eventually convicted of second degree murder and died in prison while serving a life sentence.
In 1886, Amon, long since retired from his Sheriff’s post, retired from his mercantile business as well and devoted most of his time to real estate and other investments which he had been involved with for some time. The amount ofproperty he acquired in town may be gauged by Francis Atwater’s observation in his “History of Southington” that Amon was “so thoroughly in possession of much real estate that one might almost say he had a mortgage on it all.” In addition to his investments, Amon also continued his work as an agent for the Aetna Insurance Company which he had joined in the 1870s.
With these facts in mind, it is little wonder that when Amon Bradley died in 1906 at the age of 94, he had long been recognized as the wealthiest and most influential citizen in Southington. An editorial published shortly after his death eulogized him in this way:
"Amon Bradley did not stand high when it comes to that which most men covet – the good opinion and best wishes of his townspeople. He did not fawn, he did not pander. He lived the ‘simple life,’ taking advantage of opportunities . . . It is . . . true that his charitable acts, and they were more numerous than have been placed to his credit by townspeople, were never such as to warrant bulletin board display. He did not crave public favor and he cared not for the opinions of his critics. He was bent on making money and fate could not keep him down . . . And after all has been said and done one fact stands out clearly – Amon Bradley at home, in business, or in politics was not a hypocrite. "(The Southington News, August 23, 1906)
In 1836, Amon married Sylvia Barnes of Southington, the daughter of Truman and Lowly (Barret) Barnes. The couple moved into the house which Amon had built at 85 North Main Street and began to raise a family. Their three children were Franklin B. Bradley (1857-1917), Alice (Bradley) Barnes (1849-1897), and Emma (Bradley) Yeomans Newell (1857-1917).
Throughout his long life, Amon Bradley was active in civic, business, and political affairs. He was a member of the first Southington Fire Department organized in 1834. During the 1840s, he served a term as sheriff. When Lewis Academy was erected, 1846-1848, he was a member of the building committee. He was instrumental in securing a charter for the Southington Savings Bank, serving on that institution’s first board of directors. When the Southington Cutlery Company was incorporated in 1867, Amon was named its first president. He was the town postmaster from 1851-1863 and a Democratic representative to the state legislature in 1863, 1864, and 1866. For a number of years, Amon was the town’s oldest Freemason, having joined Friendship Lodge, No. 31, F. and A.M., about 1850.
A good illustration of Amon’s character stems from an incident that occurred while he served as sheriff. That he was the right man for the job was evidenced when he became involved with an interesting murder case concerning a father who murdered his son. For many years, an Indian named Jack Bagdin had lived with his family in a lean-to fashioned of logs and boards covered with leaves and moss built against the side of a huge boulder in the Flanders district. They eked out a meager existence hunting for food and making crude baskets to sell to local farmers. One day, Jack and his son, John, had a quarrel. John apparently decided to settle the matter by killing his father for he went to see Mr. Lewis Goodsell shortly thereafter and asked Mr. Goodsell to give him an old flintlock musket that stood in the corner of the room. Mr. Goodsell was not about to give the gun away, however; he told John that he could have it for one dollar. Two days later, John returned with the necessary amount, and the weapon was his. Later that night, father and son again became embroiled in a fight. It ended not with a gunshot and the father’s death but with Jack choking his son to death. Word of the crime soon spread, and Sheriff Bradley went to the rock and arrested Jack Bagdin on a murder charge. The justice was then summoned, the court was assembled, witnesses were sworn, and the case was literally tried on the spot with most of the countryside in attendance. Adding a macabre note to the proceedings was the presence of john’s lifeless, naked body, the marks of his father’s hands plainly visible on his throat, lying in the shadow of the rock which had been his home. When the hearing was over, Jack was bound over to the superior court of Hartford to be tried for murder. Sheriff Bradley ordered Jack into his wagon for transport to jail. The Indian refused and looked menacingly at the Sheriff, whereupon Sheriff Bradley produced a large pistol, cocked it, put it against the Indian’s chest, and once more told him to get into the wagon. Realizing that the Sheriff meant business, the Indian complied. He was eventually convicted of second degree murder and died in prison while serving a life sentence.
In 1886, Amon, long since retired from his Sheriff’s post, retired from his mercantile business as well and devoted most of his time to real estate and other investments which he had been involved with for some time. The amount ofproperty he acquired in town may be gauged by Francis Atwater’s observation in his “History of Southington” that Amon was “so thoroughly in possession of much real estate that one might almost say he had a mortgage on it all.” In addition to his investments, Amon also continued his work as an agent for the Aetna Insurance Company which he had joined in the 1870s.
With these facts in mind, it is little wonder that when Amon Bradley died in 1906 at the age of 94, he had long been recognized as the wealthiest and most influential citizen in Southington. An editorial published shortly after his death eulogized him in this way:
"Amon Bradley did not stand high when it comes to that which most men covet – the good opinion and best wishes of his townspeople. He did not fawn, he did not pander. He lived the ‘simple life,’ taking advantage of opportunities . . . It is . . . true that his charitable acts, and they were more numerous than have been placed to his credit by townspeople, were never such as to warrant bulletin board display. He did not crave public favor and he cared not for the opinions of his critics. He was bent on making money and fate could not keep him down . . . And after all has been said and done one fact stands out clearly – Amon Bradley at home, in business, or in politics was not a hypocrite. "(The Southington News, August 23, 1906)
